Dale Creek Bridge, Sherman, Wyoming, 1885. A dangerous crossing that required trains to slow down to 4mph.
Dale Creek Bridge, Sherman, Wyoming, 1885. A dangerous crossing that required trains to slow down to 4mph.
I parents live within a 5-mile drive from that location. I don't think the commenters understand how windy that place is. The wood may look more sturdy but it's also a wind sail. The thin "toothpick" structure was most likely designed to allow the wind to pass through without blowing the bridge down.
There's an easy solution to make bridges stable in windy conditions:
(That bridge was built from 1846 to 1851 and it's still used today)
Windy in Wyoming, color me shocked 😲
The first one was wooden? Oh my...
Civil Engineering took a while to catch on.
The number of rail bridge collapses covered by Well There's Your Problem where the episode opens with a retelling of how the railroad company owner designed the bridge himself because the engineers couldn't grasp the genius of his vision is too damn high.
That bridge looks rickety af
“Steel is stronger than wood, so let’s make our trestle out of metal toothpicks”
That's the kind of bridge I'd only want to cross at 88 mph.
FLOOR IT
Couldn't they have, idk... built a more substantial bridge?
Time is money, brother.
Just send it!
Maybe less weight at once? You've got two engines there after all...
