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In reply to the discussion: Please stop about the pedestrian bridge collapse [View all]hunter
(39,250 posts)43. In hindsight the Space Shuttle *WAS* stupid... it was hype and politics turned literally deadly.
They'll never be another spacecraft like the Space Shuttle and that's a good thing.
Because of the Space Shuttle, it is now considered best practice to send heavy cargo into space on dangerously large unmanned rockets, and to send people into space on smaller much less risky craft.
Prefabricated bog standard concrete overpasses are a very well established technology. They are cheap and they just work. Alas, there's no glamour in them, nothing to hype.
They could have gotten their signature "postcard" overpass by decorating a conventional structure. It's possible the replacement structure will be conventional construction and there's nothing wrong with that.
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No. Stupid is not just as bad. And "mistake" doesn't necessarily mean "stupid." nt
LAS14
Mar 2018
#36
So give me a rosy scenario - One where a bridge falls on eight cars and it's nobody's fault. nt
Xipe Totec
Mar 2018
#16
Having decorative cables and a restraining tower for a structure like that would be insane.
Blue_true
Mar 2018
#32
The pictures that I saw looked like the large concrete piece had re-bar support.
Blue_true
Mar 2018
#64
That was EXACTLY what I thought.. It was the first thing that ran through my
The_REAL_Ecumenist
Mar 2018
#8
Speculation? The bridge collapsed. Either there was bad engineering or bad materials or both.
stevenleser
Mar 2018
#29
In hindsight the Space Shuttle *WAS* stupid... it was hype and politics turned literally deadly.
hunter
Mar 2018
#43
That's not very accurate. The speculation is both benign and inconsequential.
LanternWaste
Mar 2018
#33
There is a cadre of DUers who've programmed their responses to certain things
Dreamer Tatum
Mar 2018
#45