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A unique and surprising case of weather and engineering has come to light from Chicago city of America which has attracted the attention of scientists and common people around the world. At present, there is a severe heat wave going on in America, due to which normal life is being badly affected, but now the effect of this extreme heat is clearly visible even on lifeless and heavy iron structures i.e. bridges. A major iron drawbridge located in the downtown area of Chicago became so hot due to the heat that it got completely stuck in the air. Due to the bridge being open upwards and unable to come back down, traffic on the main roads of the city came to a complete standstill for hours and hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both ends of the road. Transport officials and local administration had to work hard to deal with this critical situation, only after which the traffic could be made smooth. In this era of global warming and continuously increasing temperatures, such incidents provide evidence that this wrath of nature has now started posing a serious challenge to the modern urban infrastructure.
#A unique and shocking accident happened in downtown Chicago on Wednesday.
The entire incident took place last Wednesday in Chicago’s busy downtown area, where these bridges over the river are regularly raised and lowered to allow ships and boats to pass through. On normal days, when a big ship crosses the river, both the parts of the bridge are raised with the help of hydraulic system and are immediately lowered as soon as the ship passes so that the vehicles traveling by road can pass without any hindrance. But on Wednesday, during the process, there was some technical disruption which shocked all the officials. When an attempt was made to lower the bridge back for road traffic after the ships had passed, the heavy structure of the bridge got stuck almost vertically in the air instead of coming down. The drivers standing below initially thought that it was a normal technical fault which would be fixed within a few minutes, but as time passed, long queues of vehicles started forming and the situation became serious. Due to the bridge hanging in the air for hours, the main traffic corridor of Chicago became completely deaf and the people of the city had to face the problem of heavy traffic jam.
#Scientific reason: ‘Metal expansion’ occurred in iron due to extreme heat.
When the engineers and technical experts of the Chicago Department of Transportation investigated this sudden incident in depth, everyone was shocked to know the reason behind it. Officials clarified that there was no mechanical failure or electrical fault behind the bridge getting stuck in the air, but it was due to the physical law of nature i.e. extreme temperature. In the language of science, it is called ‘metal expansion’. When the temperature is at its peak and the strong rays of the sun continuously fall on the heavy iron and steel, the metal heats up and starts expanding. Exactly the same happened with this historic bridge of Chicago. Due to the extreme heat, the entire metal structure of the bridge got extremely hot and expanded and when it was lifted into the air, its expanded parts, joints, nuts-bolts and gears got stuck together so tightly that they were not able to fit back into their designated slots. This unexpected expansion of metal completely jammed the locking mechanism of the bridge, due to which it could not be lowered immediately even if one wanted to.
#The team of engineers cooled the bridge after hours of hard work by spraying water.
Pulling down the giant bridge stuck in the air was no less than a tough test for the administration. Considering the seriousness of the situation, emergency engineering teams were immediately dispatched to the spot. Since the problem was extreme heat and metal expansion, the first challenge was to bring the bridge back to normal temperature. Engineers, with the help of state-of-the-art cooling equipment and fire engines, started continuously spraying strong jets of cold water on the main joints and metal parts of the bridge. After continuously showering water for several hours, the temperature of the iron gradually started falling. As the temperature of the bridge decreased, the effect of metal expansion also decreased and the metal started shrinking and coming back to its original shape and position. After this long process of water cooling, finally the stuck gears and joints of the bridge sat back in place, after which the hydraulic system started working and the bridge slowly descended and connected to the roadway.
#Deep impact on city’s traffic, administration issues new advisory
Due to this sudden incident, the traffic system of Chicago city completely collapsed for some time. Since Chicago is known for its excellent and well-organized transportation system, the closure of a major bridge for hours led to heavy traffic congestion on many of the city’s alternative routes. Office-goers and commercial vehicles took much longer than usual to reach their destinations. Following this incident, the Chicago Department of Transportation has decided to prepare a special action plan to deal with such summer technical disruptions in the future. Officials say that during extreme summer days, such movable bridges will be continuously monitored and when the temperature rises, they will be given special cooling treatment well in advance so that recurrence of such unexpected incidents can be prevented and the citizens of the city do not have to face any kind of inconvenience.