If this was supposed to be a cabled stayed span, just where in the hell is the central tower that holds up those supposedly missing cables - probably isn't that type of span at all. These truss looking things look really odd to me as well - maybe they are not trusses. I couldn't quite figure how they would properly transfer the load to the ends of the span.

That leaves us with the possibility that it was to be a pre-stressed concrete girder. But the news media claims they were in the process of tightening the horizontal pre-stressing cables when the collapse occurred (which are used in "pre-stressed girders).

The problem with that theory is that, as any 1st year engineering student should know, any concrete girder that is to be cast in one place, and then lifted to another spot, must be "tensioned" BEFORE it can be expected to bear even its own weight. In other words, those cables should have been tightened first - not last


> shows that shiny new technologhy is not always what it is cracked up to be ...

It ain't the technology (at least not as reported) that went awry; which actually has been successfully used for decades by competent builders. At this moment, it appears to be a faulty order of work - or perhaps cheap corner cutting, deviating from industry standard processes. If so, this could be a case of "Willful Negligent Homicide". Not unlike the Ricky Gates case, or the collapse of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Atrium. I'm glad I'm not in their shoes.

But the NTSB is on site and has promised a preliminary report in a couple of weeks. We will know more then.