Louisville news turns to Professor Ansari for bridge expertise during closure
WDRB Media recently turned to UIC Distinguished Professor Farhad Ansari for expert advice about floor beams in bridges when the Sherman Minton Bridge was closed for four days.
The Sherman Minton Bridge is a double-deck through arch bridge spanning the Ohio River, and connects the west side of Louisville, Kentucky to downtown New Albany, Indiana.
The closure occurred when floor beams were pushed out of alignment by construction rigging used during renovation work.
Ansari explained how the “floor beams play a pivotal role in helping transfer the weight from vehicles on the bridge deck,” and how unaligned beams change the way stress is absorbed from traffic.
“The distribution of loads that were intended to be supported by this bridge are not distributed as designed,” Ansari said. “Some members that were not supposed to take more loads are taking more loads and some others less — and this is not safe,” Ansari explained to WDRB.
Read the full story at Official: Construction gear caused concern that led to Sherman Minton Bridge shutdown.