Bridge collapses at inopportune time

| September 10, 2022

While officials were gathered to officially open a foot-bridge in Kinshasa, Congo Monday, the bridge collapsed. During the ribbon-cutting.

When the structure gave out, the woman who cut the ribbon was seen clutching a man in a suit who had been holding the ribbon for her. Two other men immediately rushed to her aid to carry her to safety.

Both handrails broke off as the bridge cracked at its center, coming to a rest in the shallow stream a few feet below where it had been suspended just moments before.

One of the last to leave the broken bridge was a man dressed in military fatigues, a dark hat and dark glasses clutching an unopened bottle of champagne.

NY Post

Well, at least we know cracking a bottle of champoagne over a support didn’t cause it. Too, maybe someone should have warned the folks that the ribbon wasn’t decorative, it was structural.

Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", International Affairs, None

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Hack Stone

Hack Stone

The Lead Engineer on the project was Tom Tuttle from Tacoma Washington.

RGR 4-78

All trussed up and nowhere to go.

KoB

A Bridge Too Far?

Anonymous

Literally.

Charles

From the video, it looks like the the simple little bridge, designed for a greenway or park, was packed end to end and edge to edge with people for the ceremony. And I wouldn’t be surprised if a good number of them were dancing just for fun at the event.

That’s a huge live load. Had it been further above the gap, many could have died.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse

Skivvy Stacker

So, are you saying if they’d put a bunch of dead people on there it wouldn’t have collapsed?

Anonymous

Not all it was cracked-up to be…

26Limabeans

Reminds me of the train going off “The Bridge on the River Kwai”. Classic Movie.

https://youtu.be/OK4E6iyJf3k

Mason

That was a load bearing ribbon.

jeff LPH 3 63-66

No comment since everyone beat me to the puns/yolks. Ok, so I’d raily be teed off If the rails were held together by the ribbon until gravity took over and I raily understand the gravity of the situation.

Devtun

Crocodiles need to eat. So so close…

timactual

In Kinshasa, the capitol.
Well, why not? Our capitol is not known for the excellence of its public works, either. They are lucky it doesn’t snow in Kinshasa. And in local news, in Baltimore recently you couldn’t drink the water; bottled water only.

PavePusher

I lived there 1981-1984.

Totally and completely unshocked.

Skivvy Stacker

The Joe Biden Bridge of Brotherhood and Unity.