Savana Bridge Forensic Structural Engineering Investigation (Central Africa) - Singular Structures

In the morning of Wednesday November 29th 2023, Client’s Representative was informed by a third party that the bridge located in Central Africa has collapsed.

The day before, November 28th 2023, Client’s Representative already reported the destress of an adjacent bridge structure (Existing Bridge), located barely 12-15m downstream of the Savana Bridge. Based on the information recollected onsite on November 29th, 2023, and following the interview of a rice field worker, the collapse of the Existing Bridge would have been on November 25th, 2023.

Based on the information recollected onsite, a field trip mission and the assessment of design and construction documentation, a Forensic Structural Investigation was undertaken on the cause(s) of the bridge collapse and corresponding triggering effect. Additional efforts included visual damage mapping, photographic documentation, and interviews with local authorities and witnesses to validate the timeline and context of structural failure.

Extract from scientific paper “Experimental migration of knickpoints: influence of style of base-level fall and bed lithology” J.L. Grimaud, C. Paola, and V. Voller, Earth Surface Dynamics 4, 11-23, 2016;