Investigation of Common Causes of Bridge Collapse in Colombia
Publication: Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 14, Issue 4
Abstract
This article is an evaluation of bridge collapse causes in Colombia, based on the study of 63 real cases of reported failures since 1986. Through the analysis of each failure case, the main causes of total or partial collapse of the bridge structures were identified and studied. The 36% of the cases studied corresponds to steel structures that failed mainly because of structural deficiencies; and the remaining 64% corresponds to concrete bridges that collapsed mainly because of scour effect and overloads. These causes of collapse are attributed to design deficiencies. Thus to remove the deficiencies, it is recommended to conduct a rigorous program of bridge investigation along with a strengthening technique that would be specific to a given bridge type. The investigation would specifically include an evaluation of various types of deficiency in steel structures and issues related to inadequate reinforcement and scour in concrete members.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers express their gratefulness to Luz Marina Trujillo, manager of the “Grupo de Puentes del Instituto Nacional de Vias of Colombia” (Bridges Group of the National Highways Institute of Colombia), and Engineer Indira Leon, for their contribution to the inventory of collapsed bridges.
References
Castaño, B., and Correal, D. (2000). Puentes en colombia, Notas Gerenciales la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia.
Colombian Society of Engineers. (2004). Investigación sobre las posibles causas del colapso del puente Los Ángeles, Colombian Society of Engineers, Bogota, Colombia.
DeSantiago, E., Mohammadi, J., and Albaijat, H. M. O. (2005). “Analysis of horozontally curved bridges using simple finite element methods.” Pract. Period. Struct. Des. Constr., 10(1), 18–21.
García, L. (1992). Estudio y Solución de fallas de la infraestructura de puentes, Curso de Patología de estructuras, Asociación de Ingenieros Civiles de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.
Instituto Nacional de Vias of Colombia. (1996). Manual de inspección principal de Puentes, Instituto Nacional de Vias of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
MDT. (1995). Código Colombiano de diseño sísmico de puentes, Ministerio de Transporte, Bogota, Colombia.
Mohammadi, J., and Polepeddi, K. (2000). “Bridge rating with consideration for fatigue damage from overloads.” J. Bridge Eng., 5(3), 259–265.
Muñoz, E., Obregón, N., and Daza, R. (2000). “Técnicas de fiabilidad estructural para la evaluación de puentes existentes, mediante la simulación numérica del método de Montecarlo y modelos en elementos finites.” Proc., 4th Colombian Congress of Finite Elements and Numerical Modeling, Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga, Colombia.
Muñoz, E., Obregón, N., and Prieto, J. (2003). Implementación y desarrollo de una metodología para la evaluación estructural de puentes existentes utilizando confiabilidad estructural a través del método de Montecarlo y elementos finitos, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia.
National University of Colombia. (1997). Definición de la carga de diseño para puentes en Colombia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.
National University of Colombia. (1998). Causas del Colapso del puente Recio, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.
National University of Colombia. (2000). Causas del Colapso del puente Argelino Durán Quintero-Vía Garzón-Río Loro-Neiva, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.
Salazar, F., and Daza, R. (2001). “Metodología de la evaluación de puentes metálicos por técnicas de fiabilidad estructural.” Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Journal, 1, 193.
Sobrino, J. (1993). “Técnicas de evaluación de puentes existentes mediante criterios de fiabilidad estructural. Aplicación a un puente de hormigón armado,” Revista Rutas Técnicas, 36, 6–13.
Uribe, J. (1996). Comentarios sobre los informes referentes al colapso del puente Pescadero, Colombian Society of Engineers, Colombian.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 14 • Issue 4 • November 2009
Pages: 194 - 200
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 9, 2008
Accepted: Jan 14, 2009
Published online: Jun 6, 2009
Published in print: Nov 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.