118. Westgate collapse

Yes, a box girder bridge. Part of my youth. A long way away too in Melbourne.

A PDF version is available here.

50 years ago, when I was a PhD student and still committed to a career in big bridges, Milford Haven and Westgate fell in just 4 months, with massive repercussions. When I was reminded of this by Colin Caprani via Twitter I was prompted to do something completely different this month.

In the end, because I am battling with a broken finger and a pile of un-started work, I opted to do this as a video so not many words here, just two pictures as tasters.

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Milford Haven, now Cleddau in June 1970.

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Westgate span 10-11 from the top of pier 10 in October.

I am sorry the audio quality is less than I hoped and there is a least one verbal error when I refer to New Zealand instead of Australia. It is also, at 44 minutes, longer than I planned and still only covers a small part of what there is to learn.

My hand is now a little less encumbered but still very reluctant to work for me!

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Back to normal by the end of November, I hope.