&host=www.rt.com&uri=/news/russia-volgograd-bridge-dance/&via=1.1 8.27.248.23:80 (Footprint 4.8/FPMCP)&ua=CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html))
Bridge’s St. Vitus dance
Published: 21 May, 2010, 13:38
Edited: 28 July, 2010, 21:03
TAGS: Natural disasters, Russia, Accident, Prime Time Russia
Motorists using a bridge in the southern Russian city of Volgograd were given the ride of a lifetime by a powerful gust of wind.
The new river crossing started shaking violently and a massive downpour at the same time made conditions worse.
Drivers say their cars were literally thrown into the air, many thinking it was an earthquake.
The shaking was so severe it caused vehicles to career into the opposite lane creating chaos.
The Russian President’s press service reported on Friday afternoon that Dmitry Medvedev had charged the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Presidential Control Directorate with the task of checking the details of the bridge’s design, construction and usage.
A bridge will be reopened on May 25. Experts say the bridge poses no threat to dirvers at the moment, but they are taking every precaution and it will be reopened only for smaller vehicles.
21.05.2010, 10:53
8 comments
Russia stops adoptions by foreignersRussia's commissioner for children's rights, Pavel Astakhov, has announced that Russia has suspended all adoptions of children by foreigners until bilateral agreements are signed to protect the children. |
21.05.2010, 14:35
2 comments
“I used submachine-gun as a club that I pounded on their heads with”RT presents War Witness – a special project dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Victory in the Second World War. |
This is reminiscent of the Tacoma Narrows bridge in the United States, which collapsed in 1940, 4 months after it opened. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Fi1VcbpAI That was a suspension bridge with much longer spans, so it may not be a good indicator of the likelyhood of collapse of the Volgograd bridge, however resonance dampening upgrades should be considered.