Sunday, January 14, 2018

Bridges of Mexico: Pedestrian Overcrossing across Blvd. Adolfo Ruiz Continues in Mexico City

September 2017 (19.2913, -99.1105)
There were just a couple of bridge collapses during the 9/19/2017 Mexico Earthquake. A Pedestrian Overcrossing across Blvd. Adolfo Ruiz Cortines (taken from Google Earth) is shown before the earthquake. The supports are slender single column bents with slotted bent caps to support the single girder spans.

The superstructure must have been made up of simple spans supported on a narrow seat. This allowed the bridge to come apart when it was shaken during the earthquake, unfortunately landing on a passing cab. Bridge designers must provide continuity or very large seats in order to protect human lives at locations where earthquakes can occur.

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