×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Bidge sway set off Cambodian stampede

Bidge sway set off Cambodian stampede

Bidge sway set off Cambodian stampede

(OP)
A swaying bridge loaded with thousands of people sparked mass panic and set off a raging stampede that killed more than 350 people in Cambodia's capital, ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVy7JdMyn7Y


 

RE: Bidge sway set off Cambodian stampede

Oh my god...351 people stampeded to death.  Should make us all pause and be thankful for still having our loved ones with us at this time.

RE: Bidge sway set off Cambodian stampede

Amen

RE: Bidge sway set off Cambodian stampede

(OP)
I double that Amen. bridgebuster, don't you think we should educate the public how we bust a bridge and what it dose when loaded? How about reviewing code requirement?  

RE: Bidge sway set off Cambodian stampede

About a week after the brooklyn Bridge opened there was also a stampede brought about by fear that the bridge was going to collapse; about a dozen people were killed.

This sounds like the same thing: Human nature led to a tragedy. Normally, in a suspension bridge live load is insignificant compared to dead load. However, extreme pedestrian loads can give one the perception that something is wrong. When designing ped bridges AASHTO requires a check of vibrations; it's similar with building design. With a vehicular bridge, we have deflection limits.

As the police chief said, next year they need to do a better job of managing the crowds. Perhaps they need to have a dynamic analysis performed in order to establish what a reasonable pedestrian live load should be in terms of allowable vibration.

I couldn't find any information about the bridge. I imagine it was built in accordance with recognized codes and standards, perhaps French or British.   

RE: Bidge sway set off Cambodian stampede

Bridges, be they pedestrian or vehicular, are always going to deflect or sway to some degree.  

What's more important, as I see it, is to know this in advance and plan for it.  Thus better crowd management is going to go a long way towards mitigating this issue.

With events such as this perhaps having staff monitor the numbers on the bridge is is line.  This is similar to the oversight (or supposed oversight) provided for entertainment buildings that are watched for crowds with respect to the fire code, etc.

Regards,
Qshake
pipe
Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.
 

RE: Bidge sway set off Cambodian stampede

This sounds similar to the Millenium bridge sway in London 2000, The engineers showed that when the crowd density reached a critical value, the footfall could coincide with natural bridge sway, and make it worse. They also found that prior to that event, there were six published cases of the same thing happening around the world, and that the structural form of the bridge was not a critical factor. For more on 'Synchronous Lateral Excitation' see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Bridge_%28London%29
and
http://www.arup.com/MillenniumBridge/indepth/pdf/IStructE.pdf
 

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources