Bolt Failure Studied in Canada's Bridge Deck Breach

Transportation officials in Ontario believe that 40 bolts securing the deck to beams on one span of the two-span cable-stayed Nipigon River Bridge at Thunder Bay, Canada, failed under uplift forces, which pulled the deck up about two feet. The breech halted traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway, a new $106-million structure that went into service in November. The deck and framing consists of steel beams, plate girders and a precast-concrete deck.

Gerry Chaput, assistant deputy minister in Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, said the suspect bolts were on the western span of the bridge, which, at 113 meters, is shorter and lighter than the eastern span. Provincial officials say they have verified “the tensioning of the cables” and that the bridge design conformed to code provisions covering wind and temperature. The bearings of the bridge deck, which has been weighted with highway dividers to allow one lane of traffic to remain open, are being monitored

Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR's business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR's commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.

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