West Gate Bridge Collapse: Causes and Recommendations

Running head: COLLAPSE OF WEST GATE BRIDGE
Collapse of West Gate Bridge
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

COLLAPSE OF WEST GATE BRIDGE 2
Collapse of West Gate Bridge
Executive Summary
The engineering profession impacts our lives in numerous ways. It has played a great
role in shaping our environment. Examples include the houses that we live in, the roads and
the rail ways. It would be true to imagine that life would be too boring were it not for the
engineering profession. For instance, an environment that does not have the modern buildings
or the modern roads. It would also be true to conclude that the engineering profession has
impacted our environment and lives positively in numerous ways. Although this is the case,
engineering faults could result to debilitating consequences. Such consequences include
human suffering and even death. A perfect example of how engineering faults would lead to
negative consequences is the collapse of West Gate Bridge that led to loss of 35 lives. The
tragedy occurred on 15th October 1970. Due to the tragedy, the Victorian government formed
a royal commission of inquiry to investigate the cause of the collapse. The commission found
out that there were engineering errors. For instance, some heavy concrete blocks had been
placed on the bridge structure. The blocks were too heavy that they caused the span to buckle.
Even with the realisation of this, the engineers did not find a ling lasting solution to the hitch
and this led to collapsing of the bridge. Though the collapse led to loss of 35 lives, the
modern engineers have learnt many lessons from it. These lessons have helped improve the
contemporary engineering profession.

COLLAPSE OF WEST GATE BRIDGE 3
Contents
Collapse of West Gate Bridge.................................................................................................2
Executive Summary.................................................................................................................2
Introduction..............................................................................................................................4
West Gate Bridge Tragedy......................................................................................................5
Causes of the Collapse.....................................................................................................................6
Failure of the Engineers...........................................................................................................6
How Professional Engineers Would Have Acted..................................................................7
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................8
References...............................................................................................................................10