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General Information

Name in local language: Puente Chirajara
Beginning of works: 2014
Status: collapsed (15 January 2018)

Project Type

Location

Location: , ,
Coordinates: 4° 12' 6.99" N    73° 47' 48" W
Show coordinates on a map

Technical Information

Dimensions

total length 446 m
span lengths 68.93 m - 286.30 m - 68.93 m
number of spans 3
height above valley floor or water 156.00 m
roadway / carriageway width 8.30 m
walkway width 2 x 1.35 m
anchorage A width 17 m
height 12 m
length 17 m
caisson B depth 34.45 m
caisson C depth 41.52 m
caissons diameter 8.00 m
pylon B height from foundation level 102.34 m
pylon C height from foundation level 102.34 m
pylons width 4.60 - 17.62 m
base width 8.00 m
thickness 6.00 m

Materials

pylons reinforced concrete
abutments reinforced concrete
main girders steel

Chronology

15 January 2018, 11:49

During construction and before closure of the deck, the western pylon suddently collapses causing the destruction of the entire part of the bridge suspended from it and the death of at least 10 workers.

Excerpt from Wikipedia

On 15 January 2018, a partially constructed bridge in Chirajara, Guayabetal, Colombia collapsed, killing at least 10 workers and injuring several more. The 446-metre (1,463 ft) cable-stayed bridge, located in the Cundinamarca Department, was part of an expansion of National Route 40 between Bogota and Villavicencio scheduled to open in March 2018. It crosses a ravine at a height of 280 metres (920 ft) and is held by stay-cables from two towers, of which one collapsed.

Events

Newspaper reports indicate that only 20 of the expected 200 workers were on the section that fell, due to the fact that most of the workers were attending a training session on the opposite side.

Coviandes was the agency in charge of the project. Subcontractors were two different companies, GISAICO S.A. and ICMO S.A.S.

The investigation into the failure of the western pier was conducted by the American company Modjeski and Masters. Coviandes published the results of the investigation by Modjeski & Masters in April 2018. The report concluded that the collapse of Tower B (the west pier) of the cable-stayed bridge was due to a design error, with an incorrect assumption made about the strength provided by a transverse tie beams and diaphragm at the diamond shaped pier. The report ruled out suggestions that the accident was due to poor quality of materials. The report also found cracking on Tower C, which remained standing, which was consistent with the early stages of the collapse mechanism and recommended its demolition. The report found that the foundations structural and geotechnical capacities were adequate for this type of bridge and could be retained for the reconstruction.

The remaining second pier pylon was demolished in July 2018.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Chirajara bridge collapse" and modified on 30 June 2022 according to the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

Participants

Concessionaire
Contractor

Relevant Web Sites

Relevant Publications

  • Georgakis, Christos T. / Fujino, Yozo / Hopf, Siegfried / Müller, Michael / Subirá, Francisco / Ostenfeld, Klaus H. / Svensson, S. Eilif / Hindhede, Lasse / Krogstrup, Martin J. / Rumpelt, Thomas (2020): Chirajara Bridge Collapse. Presented at: IABSE Conference: Risk Intelligence of Infrastructures, Seoul, South Korea, 9-10 November 2020, pp. 18-32.

    https://doi.org/10.2749/seoul.2020.018

  • Georgakis, Christos T. / Fujino, Yozo / Hopf, Siegfried / Ostenfeld, Klaus H. / Svensson, S. Eilif (2022): Investigation of the Chirajara Bridge Collapse. International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), Zurich (Switzerland), ISBN 978-3-85748-185-7, pp. 162.

    https://doi.org/10.2749/cs003

  • About this
    data sheet
  • Structure-ID
    20074604
  • Published on:
    19/01/2018
  • Last updated on:
    20/06/2022
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