Like it or not, the full safety requirements where discharged by Irish Rail. The bridge was inspected in line with rail industry standards, all the inspections where in date (which is something that would not have been the case in the past). Put simply same viaduct in identical conditions in any well maintained rail network would have met the same fate.
Where the problem lies is in the unique construction of the Malahide viaduct, there are no foundations under the bridge, its built on a pile of rubble effectively and the whole show works on nothing more basic than gravity.
The current presumed nature of the collapse is such that the rubble underneath the pier was pullled out by the water flow from the collapsed weir, until a point where gravity led the pier to fall over and the bridge collapses.
Structurally an inspection even at 6pm on that Friday would have been unlikely to find anything amiss, I've seen a high res photo of the bridge taken at 6:10pm and there isn't a hint of anything wrong, the bridge looked fine. Only an underwater inspection would have revealed the problem, even then it would have been too late, the bridge would collapse in time.
The failure was as a result of Irish Rail not understanding the relationship between the weir, the waterflow and the viaducts construction. Its classic accident territory not putting together all the pieces. Someone somewhere failed to identify the critical nature of the weir
Most of all, finger pointing gets no one to work or home
Last edited by Mark Gleeson : 16-09-2009 at 13:59.
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