Ominous new cracks found on (San Francisco) Bay Bridge rods

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Tiny cracks found on some of the rods on the new Bay Bridge tower potentially endanger the rest of the more than 400 remaining fasteners that secure the tower to the foundation in an earthquake, Caltrans officials said Tuesday.

They also acknowledged that one of four high-strength tower anchor rods they have examined apparently snapped after it was exposed to water and became brittle. That was the same headache that cost the agency $45 million to fix in 2013 when 32 rods used on seismic stabilizers failed after being left stewing in water.

... Lisa Fulton, a Berkeley-based engineer and corrosion expert who has studied the problem on the bridge project, said the latest discovery "means that there doesn't have to be a lot of force on those rods for them to break.

"That could indicate that we don't need an earthquake for them to snap, that they are unreliable in the service loads that they are under now," she said. “The micro cracking is a sure sign of hydrogen attack. It's a portent of catastrophe.”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Ominous-new-cracks-found-on-Bay-Bridge-rods-6345359.php

[hedda_foil]

1. There goes the cheap Chinese bridge.

It's been falling apart ever since it went up.

[Brother Buzz]

4. Dyson Corporation of Ohio manufactored the rods

The rods were suspect before they were even installed

Dyson Corporation knew of rod problems but the nimrods at Caltrans still signed off on them.

http://abc7news.com/traffic/report-supplier-knew-of-bay-bridge-rod-problems/490171/

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/05/22/supplier-persuaded-caltrans-to-use-rods-which-cracked-on-new-bay-bridge/

[Curtis]

2. Chinese metal

I used to build rock crawlers (4x4's). I ALWAYS steered clear of Chinese made metal because it is junk. It's plain old good for nothing JUNK. I would never build a roll cage, suspension parts or steering parts out of that crap and have been surprised California built a bridge out of it.

[Brother Buzz]

3. The suspect rods were made in Ohio

[Change has come]

7. With American steel?

[Brother Buzz]

9. That's not a half bad question

Dyson reshapes a wide variety of metals to exacting specification, yet nowhere on their site do they claim their material originated from an American foundry. Garbage in, garbage out, eh? Still, they are front loaded with gizmos to inspect the garbage and guarantee it smell like a rose:


• Full Dimensional Including Ring and Plug Gages (System 21)
• Tri-Roll and Bi-Point (System 22)
• Gage Calibration
• Optical Comparator
• Magnetic Particle Inspection
• Ultrasonic and Radiographic Testing
• Hardness, Machined and Full Sized Tensiles
• Decarburization Analysis
• Chemistry Analysis, Micro and Macro Etch and Coating
• Thickness

[Fix The Stupid]

16. I'm in the Industrial Supply business...

And yes, the Chinese 'steel' is terrible.

Some of the fasteners we have seen would make you faint.

And for the love of gawd, stay clear of any suspect "stainless steel"...there aren't many places left to get quality SS.

How do you know if it's chinese SS? Very easy - it corrodes....and quickly.

Like those cheap BBQ's with "Stainless Steel" burners that rust out after 1 year... WTF? That was NOT stainless steel they used in production...

And it's only going to get worse.

[Sunlei]

17. I know, I buy a lot of stainless steel supposed to be 'dairy quality SS' , have some buckets 15+

years old and still in fine useable condition. Others much newer pit, corrode and some even show rust!

[Brian66]

5. "There is no thing ....

... in the world that some man can not make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and those to whom price is the only consideration are that man's lawful prey." -- John Runyon

[eppur_se_muova]

14. Saving that quote, thanks. nt

[tularetom]

6. Thats OK we don't need China anymore we just signed a trade agreement with a bunch of their

competitors and now we can buy even cheaper steel than we did before.

And then if the bridge falls down and somebody tries to sue the corporation that furnished the defective materials, they can turn around and sue the US government for damaging their reputation and ability to compete. And win.

Thanks, Obama.

[Gregorian]

8. This is more about design and construction than Chinese steel.

The galvanized rods have been a persistent concern, with Caltrans acknowledging they were put at greater risk of cracking during processing, suffered damage in shipment, and were put under heightened stress when the tower was pulled back to keep it from leaning toward Oakland.


It sounds like a bad design as well as some weird construction techniques.

[Psephos]

10. Take it a step further. It's about failure of Caltrans as project manager and overseer.

But for sure, trust them that they will get high speed railway right.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. And yet, they have not closed the bridge.....

are they waiting for it to fall first???

I have family out there who refuse to drive on it. Even the old bridge gave me the willies.

[Peace Patriot]

12. Quantum entanglement of builders and fixers.

I'm reminded of something I read long ago, that the builders of the horribly leaking Hanford nuke plant are the very same entities that are pocketing billions of our tax dollars for the alleged "clean up" of the horrible goddamn permanent leaking nuke mess they made. Dupont? GE? Their successors? I don't recall the details. But I think we may be seeing the same phenomenon with the Bay Bridge. They wreck it with shoddy materials and design, at the cost of billions; then they "fix it" at the cost of billions. Ha-ha-ha on us, the hapless public who have no say in any of it, no power whatever, though it is OUR BILLIONS OF DOLLARS that are being pocketed by the very, very, VERY corrupt 0.01%--over and over and over again.

[NutmegYankee]

13. Probably hydrogen embrittlement on high strength steel.

Any steel with a HRC of 39 or more shouldn't be zinc coated. Even with the relief bakes, it's a significant risk increase.

[dickthegrouch]

15. How hard is it????

There are thousands of bridges over water all around the world. AFAIK not a single other one is having as many problems as this one. They were VERY quick to demolish the old bridge, too. To make sure that the ferry operators make out as bandits when the new one does collapse.

It is not that hard to build a decent bridge. We should disbar anyone involved in this fiasco from the politicians to the construction workers from ever building a bridge again.