A sign of the times….
A quick blog to share an event that happened this week in Melbourne, which reiterates the risks involved in design and construction. On Monday, I started my Phase 3 placement with the Transport and Infrastructure (TI) section of WSP. On Wednesday, a “bit of a flap” occurred in the office as an overhead road sign and part of the gantry collapsed onto a car (to note, there was no strong wind on that day). These links will take you to the news articles and dash cam footage from other vehicles travelling on the freeway. Luckily the driver of the vehicle suffered only minor physical injuries.
The freeway was re-opened to the public less than 12months ago following a $1.3billion upgrade and widening project. WSP were part of the design team and responsible for some of the gantry designs for Stage 2. CPB delivered the construction. Following the event the Client (Major Road Projects Authority) and the asset manager (VicRoads) initiated an immediate review of the full design documentation, construction documentation and remaining gantries to identify any additional risks (and also blame). Fortunately, for WSP, it turns out that this gantry is not one they designed – which was a relief for many in the office. The investigation is still ongoing, but it is believed the failure was in the gantry connections – either a poor design or not constructed to the design (current thinking is the latter and fault is with CPB QC procedures during construction). I will update the blog in the comments when the report comes out identifying the fault. As I start my first week in design, I thought this was a good reminder of the risks involved even with simple structures.
Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog 
This incident also generated a flap among the Aurecon team who also also contributed to the design of this asset. From what I have gleaned the gantry in question does appear to have been an Aurecon design however the failure has been attributed to the contractor during construction (potentially due to a missing stiffener plate). The knock effect was some lucky engineers got to go and inspect similar gantries over the weekend.