I saw people arguing that the explosion must have come from below (eg a boat) because parts of the damaged doad deck had been lifted off the spherical bearings of the supporting piers/pylons. Is it possible this could also be attributable to the 'tension load lifting the deck up'?
That’s also an important thing a lot of people don’t think of! The kinetics of lightweight materials in the vicinity of an event like an explosion or other violent events is quite surprising. It often masks the underlying prevailing forces because the more visible things obscure our view.
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I saw people arguing that the explosion must have come from below (eg a boat) because parts of the damaged doad deck had been lifted off the spherical bearings of the supporting piers/pylons. Is it possible this could also be attributable to the 'tension load lifting the deck up'?
Oh absolutely, that sort of motion on the spherical bearings is exactly the sort thing I was talking about when I mentioned pivoting.
But it’s hard to be too much more specific without more information about the design of the bridge than I personally have
I meant more the first seconds of explosion where everything in the air moves doesn't indicate origin at the bridge itself.
That’s also an important thing a lot of people don’t think of! The kinetics of lightweight materials in the vicinity of an event like an explosion or other violent events is quite surprising. It often masks the underlying prevailing forces because the more visible things obscure our view.
I've never seen explosion which creates obscure counter intuitive trajectories.
Bridge must be one of the most open-space environments you can imagine.