Days without a bridge failure: 
Temperatures in NYC have reached their highest point so far this year, with Central Park reading 95°F (35°C) yesterday. This will be the 5th straight day with temperatures above 90°F (32.2°C). New York City sees 15 days reach 90°F (32.2°C) per year on average.
How the fuck is a bridge not engineered to withstand 35 degrees? Like bruh you didn’t even make sure your bridge can withstand human body temperature?
Yeah like I know climate change and all that but 95F, while uncommon for NYC, is absolutely not unheard of. This should absolutely be within the normal temperature range you’re prepared for
Maybe jet fuel can melt these fucking steel beams.
Bare metal can reach the 70 degrees with an ambient of 40… but even with that in mind it should be designed to handle much more. America seems so fucked
From what I read the bridge was built in 1898 and had its last major overhaul in 2004. NYC has seen hotter temps than 95°F/35°C during those 126 years. It got up to 108/42 degrees in 1936 for example, and broke 100/37 several times since 2004.
I feel like there’s more going on there than mere thermal expansion, which should be accounted for in a rotating swing bridge like this. I don’t know much about geology but could the ground on either side shift enough without, say, an earthquake causing it?
I am a geologist actually and just to be clear that’s definitely not what happened. The only things I can imagine actually happened to cause this were lack of maintenance resulting in rust, which expands and as a result can lock the bridge up. Also bare metal in the sun can get much hotter than air temperature, so the bridge was probably significantly warmer than the air which resulted in greater thermal expansion
I wonder what corners were cut in 2004.