gondola collapse

huangyhg

gondola collapse
oh crap - i hate when this happens...  one reason i gave up skiing....  happy to hear no one was seriously injured..
"a structural failure was the cause" no kidding !! we used to say  " the applied stress exceeded the available strength " !! i wonder if there is a source for a photo of the fractured area.  
haven't heard anything, yet... will keep my ears up.  i don't know the age or use... could be fatigue or maybe cold temperature related (material or thermal contraction)...
dik
link...
the scary part here is that i have ridden that same gondola line several times in the past.  i believe it's the one going to timberline.  
from riding the gondola, i think fatigue is a definite possibility here, particularly since the line is 10 to 15 years old.  was kinda bouncy.  
they also had a wind limit of 40 mph, i believe, above which they would shut it down.  there were some pretty heavy winds coming down the frazer river valley bringing some bitter cold over the last week.   
mike mccann
mmc engineering
my bridge inspection experience tells me that ice jacking would be a very surprising cause for a detail like this...  pretty easy to keep water out; i would be leaning towards mike on this one...
but, that said, we're nearly as bad as the laymen on the cbc website.  a professional certainly wouldn't comment with any authority until seeing all of the drawings, evidence, photos, etc, etc, etc.
i'll be interested to see if a report is ever released.  i've always wanted to get my hands on a copy of serene!
cheers,
ys
b.eng (carleton)
working in new zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...
and another thought here - this was the first whistler gondola line that failed.  they recently added a world class gondola line that spans the valley from whistler to blackhomb.  
considering what just happened, i think a thorough structural review of the new line is in order.   
mike mccann
mmc engineering
i take that back.  it was not the same gondola i am familiar with that goes to the timberline lodge on whistler mountain, but a newer line that goes up blackhomb.  i have never ridden that one.  i believe it was most probably  constructed within the last 15 years though as i have not been to whistler for about fifteen years.
it was interesting to look at the clean break in the splice of the tower - like there was no backing metal for the weld at the splice point.  i still feel though that fatigue may have played a part here to open cracks that could have allowed the water to penetrate into the interior of the assembly.  but, what do i know...
mike mccann
mmc engineering
not a very good design splice if "ice jacking" was the cause.  it is always easier to blame the weather or "acts of god" for failures.
yup, youngstructural nailed it.
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oh crap - i hate when this happens...  one reason i gave up skiing....  happy to hear no one was seriously injured..
"a structural failure was the cause" no kidding !! we used to say  " the applied stress exceeded the available strength " !! i wonder if there is a source for a photo of the fractured area.  
haven't heard anything, yet... will keep my ears up.  i don't know the age or use... could be fatigue or maybe cold temperature related (material or thermal contraction)...
dik
link...
the scary part here is that i have ridden that same gondola line several times in the past.  i believe it's the one going to timberline.  
from riding the gondola, i think fatigue is a definite possibility here, particularly since the line is 10 to 15 years old.  was kinda bouncy.  
they also had a wind limit of 40 mph, i believe, above which they would shut it down.  there were some pretty heavy winds coming down the frazer river valley bringing some bitter cold over the last week.   
mike mccann
mmc engineering
my bridge inspection experience tells me that ice jacking would be a very surprising cause for a detail like this...  pretty easy to keep water out; i would be leaning towards mike on this one...
but, that said, we're nearly as bad as the laymen on the cbc website.  a professional certainly wouldn't comment with any authority until seeing all of the drawings, evidence, photos, etc, etc, etc.
i'll be interested to see if a report is ever released.  i've always wanted to get my hands on a copy of serene!
cheers,
ys
b.eng (carleton)
working in new zealand, thinking of my snow covered home...
and another thought here - this was the first whistler gondola line that failed.  they recently added a world class gondola line that spans the valley from whistler to blackhomb.  
considering what just happened, i think a thorough structural review of the new line is in order.   
mike mccann
mmc engineering
i take that back.  it was not the same gondola i am familiar with that goes to the timberline lodge on whistler mountain, but a newer line that goes up blackhomb.  i have never ridden that one.  i believe it was most probably  constructed within the last 15 years though as i have not been to whistler for about fifteen years.
it was interesting to look at the clean break in the splice of the tower - like there was no backing metal for the weld at the splice point.  i still feel though that fatigue may have played a part here to open cracks that could have allowed the water to penetrate into the interior of the assembly.  but, what do i know...
mike mccann
mmc engineering
not a very good design splice if "ice jacking" was the cause.  it is always easier to blame the weather or "acts of god" for failures.
yup, youngstructural nailed it.