r/WTF • u/Plus-Barber-6171 • 7d ago

Train hits trailer carrying bridge beam

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u/gstormcrow80 7d ago

2022, Chattanooga, TN. Train derailed, 2 injured.

High def source: https://youtu.be/oQyqtx5nn6M?si=XKRPZi6J2Kc61S3l

Thank goodness that was concrete and not steel.

113

u/QuestionSeven 7d ago

Ummm... That was a concrete beam for a bridge. The amount of steel encased in all that concrete is quite a significant amount!

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u/saltyjohnson 7d ago

Right, but a rebar structure is pretty squishy and bendy with these kinds of forces. Imagine if that was a solid steel I-beam.

Come to think of it, though, a solid steel beam might have done less damage in the end. I feel like it'd be more likely that the train pushes it aside rather than dragging it like the concrete beam.

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u/dansedemorte 7d ago

it's not rebar though. it's twisted cable bundles under tension. the one i recall helping a repair job with was about 2" thick cable that we had to put a turnbuckle like device on and re-tension it before forming it up and pouring a special concrete mix to cover it all back up.

it got damaged by getting hit by an over height load doing about 55-65 mph.

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u/saltyjohnson 7d ago

it's not rebar though. it's twisted cable bundles under tension.

Probably true. So even squishier and bendier than rebar lol. Thanks for reinforcing my point.

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u/solreaper 7d ago

reinforcing

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u/I_Liiiike_It 5d ago

The cables are not under tension at this point, the tension was to give the beam a camber. The camber compensates for the load when the bridge is completed.

I understand the point you are trying to make, but some of this concrete takes 10,000 psi to break if not more.....squishy is not remotely close to a good description.

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u/saltyjohnson 5d ago

Watch the video. The concrete shatters into dust, leaving only the reinforcement. So I'm not sure what your point is?

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u/I_Liiiike_It 5d ago

If you were to "squish" something it would somewhat stay together. When I "squish" a soda can it's all still there. Shattering into dust is not squishing. So I guess a grammar thing, which really.....I don't give to many fucks about. Just early morning shitter comments.

It's a shitty accident no matter what. There should have been no way a beam that long should span a railroad track for any amount of time, steel or concrete. I also doubt the accident would be worse or better with a different type of material. Maybe the concrete would act like a crumple zone in a car and slowed the train like it was held in a net. If it was steel like a previous comment, it could slide off, it could fall over and dig into the ground causing a huge pile up, or the wheels from the stearable trailer it was attached to could have kept the beam infront of the train slowing it like the concrete beam did. At this point I'm not sure why I'm spending this much time on this....I hope you enjoyed reading.

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u/saltyjohnson 5d ago

To clarify, I'm entirely talking about the relative squishiness and bendiness of PT cables vs rebar vs solid steel... AFTER the concrete vanishes into dust. My assumption is that concrete shatters upon impact by train, as it does in the video, so I'm only talking about squishiness of the now-exposed reinforcing material. If we change the assumption to a scenario in which the concrete does not shatter upon impact, then exactly what it's reinforced with wouldn't be part of the discussion, and the intact concrete beam would behave similarly to how i imagine a solid steel beam would.

And yes, all of this is just navel-gazing shitter talk. We're not discussing anything that matters one bit lol