安大略省的运输官员认为，在距加拿大雷霆湾60英里的两跨越新的尼皮贡河桥的一个跨度上，将甲板固定在横梁上的40个螺栓，在桥电缆的抬高力下失败了，这将甲板拉到几英尺。这在道路上打开了一条漏洞，该道路停止了大量使用的跨加拿大高速公路上的交通。

未报告伤害，此后甲板上装有高速公路分隔线以缩小差距。

该结构是由多伦多MMM集团设计的，是该省的第一座电缆固定桥。252米长的桥梁有113米和139米的跨度。

According to a description of the bridge deck on a website of Hatch Mott MacDonald, which served as construction contract administrator, the deck is comprised of steel beams and three plate girders with a series of transverse beams supporting the precast concrete deck.

Part of the west span of the new, $106-million bridge displaced upward nearly two feet.

准确的设计涉及的连接是联合国clear. Gerry Chaput , assistant deputy minister in Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, said the bolts suspected of failing were resisting uplift forces on the shorter west span.

It is too early to say what if any penalties the construction, design and engineering team will face for the issues with the bridge, he said.

建筑团队

A joint venture that built the current bridge spans, Bot Ferrovial, is building another one alongside the existing structure. The venture combines Bot Construction, one of Canada’s largest civil engineering and construction companies, with Ferovial Agroman Canada, part of Madrid-based, global infrastructure giant Ferovial.

Tests on the bolts will begin Monday at two different labs, the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa and Surface Science Western at Western University.

运输officials and their consultants will also be looking at the bolts and once the review is complete they will decide whether to add a counterweight beneath the west span.

查普特说：“提升力是有线桥梁的问题。”

The split in the bridge immediately stoked speculation in the local media that the severe Canadian cold was to blame.

但是，虽然在22℃下冷的温度远远在加拿大桥梁代码下设计的桥梁范围内。

“We can get weather much colder than that,” Chaput said.

但是，金斯敦皇后大学的教授兼土木工程副主管马克·格林（Mark Green）说，天气波动实际上确实构成了设计挑战。

Dramatic Temperature Swings

这个问题并不是极端的寒冷，而是残酷寒冷的冬季和短暂的夏天相对温暖的狂热波动。

Over the course of a year, temperatures in Canada have a range from high to low of 80 deg C, compared to 40 to 50 deg in Europe, where cable-stayed bridges originated in the post-World War II years.

Green speculated that low temperatures could have played a contributing factor, shortening the cables and contributing to the uplift.

格林说，如果螺栓未按照指定制造，则该问题将倒在供应商身上。但是，如果用正确的规格交付螺栓，则问题将是设计人员制定的规格。

“It all comes down to what they determine went wrong,” Green said.