Fed: Australia could have bridge collapse next: engineer

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-2007
Fed: Australia could have bridge collapse next: engineer

By Shelley Markham

MELBOURNE, Aug 4 AAP - Australia could have a bridge collapse similar to the US one
that killed at least five people, a Melbourne-based engineering expert warns.

University of Melbourne Associate Professor Priyan Mendis said more money needed to
be devoted to monitoring ageing bridges across Australia.

Professor Mendis said there was a strong possibility of a similar bridge collapse occurring
in Australia.

Five people have been confirmed dead and nearly 100 injured after a bridge across the
Mississippi river in Minneapolis collapsed on Thursday (AEST).

"Yes, we could have a (similar type of) bridge collapse," Professor Mendis told AAP.

"It can happen anywhere around the world," he said.

Prof Mendis said that road authorities in NSW had done a good job of monitoring bridges
in Sydney, but there were many other vulnerable bridges in other cities and regional areas
of Australia.

"I don't think we are spending enough money on our ageing infrastructure, such as bridges,"

he said.

"We have a shortage of civil engineers with experience in Australia.

"It's not a problem with the design. It's just the maintenance of the ageing structures,"

he said.

"The (state and federal) governments have to employ more experienced engineers to carefully
monitor what is happening to these bridges."

Prof Mendis, who is the head of Melbourne University's Infrastructure Protection Group,
said governments could also adopt new technology to monitor bridges for signs of structural
fatigue.

"There are some new techniques using sensors, so you can monitor continuously these
bridges," he said.

"Some of the cracks you can't see, they are hidden, and once they start it's hard to
get rid of them."

Prof Mendis worked as a consultant in Minneapolis in 1996 and lived near the bridge
that collapsed.

He said the bridge had begun to show signs of structural fatigue 17 years ago.

"As early as 1990 the authorities found problems with this bridge and there were some
repairs done," he said.

"They had been monitoring it but I don't think they spent enough time and money on repairing it."

AAP sam/arb/cdh

KEYWORD: US FREEWAY AUST

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