{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/23183"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/23183","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Study of the I-35W Highway Bridge Collapse Mechanism","abstract":"The Deck truss portion of the I-35W Highway Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed on August 1, 2007 while roadwork was underway on the bridge. The entire truss was recovered from the river to study the causes of failure. The National Transportation Safety Board attributes the collapse to inadequate load carrying capacity of the steel gusset plates connecting the main truss members at four specific nodes. Permanent deformations of the members in proximity to these nodes were documented and a surveillance video camera recorded the collapse event in a major section of the structure. The inelastic behavior of the deck truss during the collapse event is studied in this research by performing nonlinear structural analysis on a simplified two-dimensional model. Nonlinear behavior is discretized at specific locations starting with buckling of the critical gusset plates and continuing with yielding in members where the internal forces increased at a higher rate during the post-buckling behavior. The analysis results show the sequence of failure events that lead to the formation of a collapse mechanism in the center span of the deck truss, which is the first to fall into the river. Comparison between the available evidence and the analysis results validate the conclusions drawn in this research.","abstract_html":"The Deck truss portion of the I-35W Highway Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed on August 1, 2007 while roadwork was underway on the bridge. The entire truss was recovered from the river to study the causes of failure. The National Transportation Safety Board attributes the collapse to inadequate load carrying capacity of the steel gusset plates connecting the main truss members at four specific nodes. Permanent deformations of the members in proximity to these nodes were documented and a surveillance video camera recorded the collapse event in a major section of the structure. The inelastic behavior of the deck truss during the collapse event is studied in this research by performing nonlinear structural analysis on a simplified two-dimensional model. Nonlinear behavior is discretized at specific locations starting with buckling of the critical gusset plates and continuing with yielding in members where the internal forces increased at a higher rate during the post-buckling behavior. The analysis results show the sequence of failure events that lead to the formation of a collapse mechanism in the center span of the deck truss, which is the first to fall into the river. Comparison between the available evidence and the analysis results validate the conclusions drawn in this research.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Robles Lora, Miguel Amaurys"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Civil Engineering","degree_department":"Civil and Environmental Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Wright, William J."],"committee_members":["Moen, Cristopher D.","Leon, Roberto T."],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-06-07","date_published":"2013-06-07","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:34Z","subjects":["I-35W Bridge Collapse","Collapse Mechanism","Gusset Plate Buckling","Plastic Hinges","Plastic deformations"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:1005"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:1005","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/23183","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Wright, William J."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Moen, Cristopher D.","Leon, Roberto T."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Civil and Environmental Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Robles Lora, Miguel Amaurys"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2013-06-08T08:00:42Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-06-08T08:00:42Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-06-07"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Civil Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["I-35W Bridge Collapse","Collapse Mechanism","Gusset Plate Buckling","Plastic Hinges","Plastic deformations"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:1005"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/23183"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Deck truss portion of the I-35W Highway Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed on August 1, 2007 while roadwork was underway on the bridge. The entire truss was recovered from the river to study the causes of failure. The National Transportation Safety Board attributes the collapse to inadequate load carrying capacity of the steel gusset plates connecting the main truss members at four specific nodes. Permanent deformations of the members in proximity to these nodes were documented and a surveillance video camera recorded the collapse event in a major section of the structure. The inelastic behavior of the deck truss during the collapse event is studied in this research by performing nonlinear structural analysis on a simplified two-dimensional model. Nonlinear behavior is discretized at specific locations starting with buckling of the critical gusset plates and continuing with yielding in members where the internal forces increased at a higher rate during the post-buckling behavior. The analysis results show the sequence of failure events that lead to the formation of a collapse mechanism in the center span of the deck truss, which is the first to fall into the river. Comparison between the available evidence and the analysis results validate the conclusions drawn in this research."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Study of the I-35W Highway Bridge Collapse Mechanism"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Wright, William J."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Moen, Cristopher D.","Leon, Roberto T."],"dc:contributor.department":["Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Robles Lora, Miguel Amaurys"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2013-06-08T08:00:42Z"],"dc:date.available":["2013-06-08T08:00:42Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013-06-07"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Deck truss portion of the I-35W Highway Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed on August 1, 2007 while roadwork was underway on the bridge. The entire truss was recovered from the river to study the causes of failure. The National Transportation Safety Board attributes the collapse to inadequate load carrying capacity of the steel gusset plates connecting the main truss members at four specific nodes. Permanent deformations of the members in proximity to these nodes were documented and a surveillance video camera recorded the collapse event in a major section of the structure. The inelastic behavior of the deck truss during the collapse event is studied in this research by performing nonlinear structural analysis on a simplified two-dimensional model. Nonlinear behavior is discretized at specific locations starting with buckling of the critical gusset plates and continuing with yielding in members where the internal forces increased at a higher rate during the post-buckling behavior. The analysis results show the sequence of failure events that lead to the formation of a collapse mechanism in the center span of the deck truss, which is the first to fall into the river. 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