A problem which caused the sudden closure of the Menai Bridge in north Wales could have led to "catastrophic loss of life", engineers ruled at the time. In October of last year it was decided that the 197-year-old bridge would close to traffic after issues with the span hangers were detected during routine maintenance.
NorthWalesLive reports that a technical briefing document shared with New Civil Engineer has now shed more light on what exactly led to the closure. In the document it reportedly states that the issue centred on an "unacceptable risk of brittle failure" in hanger sockets, which were installed during a major upgrade of the bridge between 1938 and 1941.
The briefing document, which was based on analysis by engineering and architecture consultancy Cowi, reportedly said that "were a given hanger to fail in a brittle manner [...] the impulse loading from this event had the potential to cause brittle fracture in adjacent hangers, leading to a progressive and disproportionate collapse of the bridge deck".
