How fast was he going

[attie]

My cousin sent me these pics from the US, Excavator versus Overhead Bridge.


" A backhoe weighing 8 tons is on top of a flatbed trailer and heading east on Interstate 70 near Hays, The extended shovel arm is made of hardened refined steel and the approaching overpass is made of commercial-grade concrete, reinforced with 1 1/2 inch steel rebar spaced at 6 inch intervals in a crisscross pattern layered at 1 foot vertical spacing.
Solve: When the shovel arm hits the overpass, how fast do you have to be going to
slice the bridge in half? (Assume no effect for headwind and no braking by the driver...)
Extra Credit: Solve for the time and distance required for the entire rig to come to a
complete stop after hitting the overpass at the speed calculated above. "
http://static.flickr.com/144/326466227_707f0eb86e.jpg?v=0
http://static.flickr.com/137/326466085_693cfa7495_m.jpghttp://static.flickr.com/144/326466038_97146dca95_m.jpg

[TassieKiwi]

This was real. I did a bit of searching, and the company at fault was a construction outfit. They had the bridge repaired and opened in something like 3 weeks, which was a sterling effort.

[Gra]

The question isn't how fast the truck was going, but how long the drivers employment lasted in milliseconds??:D

[DJ’s Timber]

Tell ya what, a video of it happening would have been spectacular.

[SPIRIT]

he was going just as fast as the driver on the bridge to know he has just filled his pants ,,,,SHARK


arty

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

The driver probably saw the bridge... and the kids on top, and thought "lob water balloons at me will you?" http://www.ubeaut.biz/laughdevil.gif