Index IntroductionContextParties InvolvedReasons for the CollapseKey Engineering Lessons LearnedConclusionRecommendationsThe Injaka Bridge project took place in a small town called Bushbuckridge in South Africa. It was proposed to be a 300m seven-span steel structure. In July 1998 it was under construction using the incremental launch method when disaster struck and the bridge collapsed. The bridge collapsed for many reasons, mainly due to the lack of qualification and experience of the engineers involved in the project. Their lack of experience and negligence essentially led to the deaths of 14 people and the injury of 19 others on site that day. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay IntroductionContextThe Injaka Bridge is a bridge that has been proposed to be built over the Ngwaritsane River in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, a province in South Eastern Africa. The bridge was proposed to be a seven-span continuous prestressed steel structure with a total construction length of 300 m and was designed to be constructed using a method known as the incremental launching method. This method involves building a section of the bridge, attaching a nose to that section, and then dragging the two units forward. This process is then repeated until the bridge reaches the desired length. The steel tip attached to the front end of the first segment had the function of reducing the cantilever moment, the corresponding shear force and the support reactions during the launch. To allow the bridge units to slide on top of the bridge supports during the process, both temporary sliding bearings were used along with the permanent bearings. Parties involved“The owner of the works was the Department of Water and Forestry Affairs. VKE Consulting engineers were commissioned by the owner to design the bridge spanning the Ngwaritsane River, near Bosbokrand. The contractor, Concor Holdings (Pty) Limited, was appointed to design the temporary works based on design information obtained from VKE and to construct the structure. ”Bridge CollapseOn 6 July 1998 the Injaka Bridge suddenly collapsed during the construction process. The bridge was being constructed using the incremental launch method which, if managed and supervised correctly, should be a simple process. Unfortunately, on this day, for several simple reasons, while the bridge section was being launched, both the bridge and nose sections failed and collapsed. The event that caused the collapse of the Injaka Bridge was a strike on the lower slab of the bridge deck by one of the bearings from below, caused by incorrect positioning of the sliding path. When the bridge collapsed there were many people present on the platform (including the designer of the bridge, Mrs M Gouws) which unfortunately led to the death of 14 people and the injury of at least 19 others. Reasons for the collapseThe Injaka Bridge collapsed due to several fundamental errors that could have easily been avoided if normal project design and management principles had been applied. The causes of the collapse are the result of a long list of deficiencies and can be summarized as follows: Insufficient expert personnel and supervision Incorrect structural launch nose Poorly designed deck slab Incorrect positioning of supports Incorrect sliding path of temporary works "The Bridge project was awarded by VKE Consulting to M Gouws, under the direct supervision of Bischoff.