The Russian Emergency Ministry has closed a seven-kilometre-long bridge which crosses the Volga River in Volgograd, after the structure started to wobble.
The bridge remained closed on Friday morning and emergency services stood by in the area in case the structure deteriorated further.
Strong currents in the river caused by the huge flow of extra water from melting snow upstream had apparently loosened one of the vertical supports, which affected the balance of the entire bridge.
The Emergency Ministry office in Volgograd held a meeting to decide if the bridge would be re-opened for use in the near future.
"There is confirmed information that the bridge is wobbling. At the moment all emergency forces are in place. The Volgograd Emergency Ministry is expected to hold an emergency meeting on the matter where they will take decision on whether or not the bridge can be used," said Volgograd Emergency Ministry official Vadim Basov.
The bridge, the longest in Europe, was completed last year and opened in October 2009. Its construction cost 80.36 million dollars.
8 comments:
"There is confirmation that the bridge is wobbling."
...After seeing that vid---- Isn't that kind of like ---- an understatement......?
Looks like either the wind or the water has caused the bridge to reach its resonant frequency. I'm not sure how easy it is to stop the "wobble" when it gets as far as that. The Tacoma Bridge suffered the same problem and didn't survive.
Thats roughly a cost of 334,833,333 per day of use. I'd be curious to what the electronic sign says. Most likely something along the lines of 'run for your lives!'.
Looks like it has been altered to exaggerate the wobbles, does not look real.
Bob, I think you'd be surprised. When a structure reaches its resonant frequency point, it can literally disintegrate - it's the same theory that enables a glass to be broken just by sound alone. Read this section on Wikipedia about Resonance Disaster
Yep mark is right, this deffo doesnt look like a fake video, this isnt the first time this has happened to a bridge…look at the consequences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw&feature=related
That guy is walking the wrong way! And he's walking, not running!
I believe the bridge is wobbly, but this video is not a video of the bridge wobbling. Look at the guy who's walking on the bridge at the beginning, he's not moving with the undulations of the bridge, instead portions of his shoulder seem to be wobbling.
Also, look at the portion at about 0:16 when it's a side shot, specifically look at the white edge along the bottom of the bridge, it doesn't move but seems to expand and contract, almost as if a fisheye lens filter were placed on a vid of a none-moving bridge.
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