The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 6

6A MONDAY MAY 22 2000 the PHARInTE OBSERVER WALKWAY COLLAPSE AT SPEEDWAY a split second I thought I was going to die And then I realized I was going to MIKE AQUINO OF ATLANTA TUMBLE fromlA be a considerable number of people crossing that bridge at one time and that would intensify the Speedway spokesman Jerry Gappens said late Sunday he was unaware of those recommendations He sure if the speedway ever considered or discussed using stronger materials are specifications and guidelines that we had to follow and conform to and those were conformed Gappens said Bob Boucek a Charlotte home inspector who once worked as chief architect for the city of Philadelphia said common for pedestrian walkways to be built to hold 100 pounds per square foot what the state building code calls for he noted pretty he said That type of construction should be able to support shoul-der-to-shoulder foot traffic he said The 80-foot span that collapsed should be able to support 128000 pounds or the equivalent of about 800 people he said Witnesses estimated about 150 people were crossing that span when it collapsed Wheeler said he know when the bridge completed in 1995 was last inspected Gappens say when or if the speedway would release its internal inspection reports Neither staff nor contractors had reported finding cracks in either of the two pedestrian bridges much much too early right now to come to any conclusion about what Wheeler said trying to keep an open mind about The bridge connects the speedway to nearby parking lots letting fans avoid crossing four-lane US 29 It collapsed about 11:15 pm Saturday as fans headed for their cars after The Winston an all-star sprint race Mike Aquino of Atlanta and his buddy Nick Haralson left the speedway as soon as the race ended As they crossed the walkway Aquino saw the crowd in front of him simply disappear was the most amazing he said Then he felt himself disappearing with them sliding down a concrete slab a split he said thought I was going to die And then I realized I was going to He scraped his leg badly but break anything He and Haralson who was later hospitalized with back pain started helping others who had landed around them One woman looked so badly injured he was afraid to move her But he picked up a man with a bloody bone poking out of his ankle was screaming and trying to stand Aquino said lied to him and told him I had seen worse injuries playing football But I seen anything like Nobody died Area hospitals were treating 53 accident victims two remained in critical condition Sunday Doctors said Charlotte-area hospitals treated this many people at once from a serious accident in recent memory There were no deaths they said in large part because of the many medics already at the speedway working the event Their proximity saved precious time in reaching victims and ensured that no one bled to death Wheeler said witnesses described the walkway bowing to within about five feet above the highway before collapsing That softened the impact for the victims he said likely minimizing injuries nothing much to be grateful for in he said late Sunday thankful for FRANCISCO KJOLSETHStaff remain In a V-shape Sunday on US 29 outside Motor Speedyvay find evidence of corroded support cables Engineers examining the collapsed walkway at Motor Speedway found evidence of corrosion on the support cables inside the prestressed concrete spans Cracks found in the concrete near the center of the spans may have allowed rainwater to seep into the interior weakening the cables leading to the failure of the span How the support bands work The walkway consisted of four 16-foot-wide 80-foot-long spans supported by pre-stressed concrete pillars Each span was formed by joining two 8-foot-wide double pre-stressed sections The vertical legs of the spans had steel cables embedded in them to provide support Cracks running lengthwise along the floor of the spans may have allowed the support cables to corrode Compression force of the arch offset the tension from support cables Fallen spans of the pedestrian bridge Engineers Walkway span Side view of span SOURCES: NC DOT engineers the speedway hire an outside safety expert to inspect the entire premises many more people have to get hurt before you say something asked Beauchamp who has won settlements for several of the families still seeking compensation for a 10-year-old girl injured in the incident had excellent architects excellent engineers a fulltime maintenance Wheeler said feel like (the speedway) is very Because the collapsed bridge is owned by the speedway it is the responsibility to inspect and maintain the structure state officials said Speedway spokesman Gappens said the walkway was after its completion in October 1995 Wheeler said the structures had to meet state transportation specifications and federal guidelines be unaware of any such failures involving his products He says such prestressed concrete is used in thousands of bridges and parking decks around the country and almost never fails Laxton Construction Co of Charlotte helped build the bridge Wheeler said Forensic engineers and state and federal transportation investigators will probe the accident Wheeler said The wreckage blocking the highway was removed Sunday night The broken pieces were be loaded onto trucks and taken to an area behind the speedway Investigators will probably take samples to analyze said Don Goins chief engineer for the Transportation Department This race the Coca-Cola 600 will go on Wheeler said A mother holds on A love saved the youngest of the injured 3-year-old Brody Patrick Wright When Cindy Taylor heard a thud and felt the world begin to disappear beneath her she grabbed onto her blond-haired blue-eyed son and wrapped her arms around him She landed in a pile of bodies as a concrete chunk the size of her head smashed into her leg she later told her ex-husband Chris Wright She screamed and heard her new husband Marty Taylor gasp next to her Cindy and Marty Taylor were among the most serious injuries from collapse both suffering several fractured bones punctured lungs and broken ribs Doctors say they will probably need months of rehabilitation Cindy leg was bent backward and she could see bone sticking out through bloody skin Brody came through it with a scrape on his leg and a on his chin get but a said Chris Wright who flew in from Virginia Cindy Taylor want to let go of her son in the pile of bodies and rubble Wright said But when a man said me take your she reluctantly gave him up while medics worked to free her By Sunday afternoon Brody was doing rounds with the nurses doing great but Wright said might be scared of bridges for the rest of his Support cables inside vertical spans concrete provided tension that retained maining spans of the bridge that collapsed He said there was a that steel in other spans were also corroding A second walkway similar in most respects to the one that collapsed was built in 1996 Wheeler said two staff civil engineers and project managers constantly monitoring at the speedway Track officials were looking for inspection records Sunday but sure when or whether the track would disclose the inspection information Gappens said concrete watching all the time for cracks and you find them not Wheeler said try to stay on top of them as best as you He said it is too early conclude at this point that anything is solely for the collapse No officials have out and said conclusively that was the Though the bridge spans were the arch WM PITZERNews Graphics Editor rated to hold 100 pounds per square foot corrosion of internal cables could have diminished that weight capacity Idol said were elbow to elbow inching said Gus Lejano 36 of Huntersville who was just about to step onto the span when it collapsed see anything in front of me except heads then all of a sudden there was nothing in front of The reinforced concrete bridge slabs were manufactured at a plant by the Spartanburg SC-based Tindall Corp A company official said he too saw rusted cables in the bridge rubble Sunday but too soon to say what caused the corrosion did appear to be some corrosion inside there and that could have been a contributing said William Lowndes chief operating officer Lowndes said that he was there was no manufacturing flaw in the slab and that Support cables embedded in the cause it crosses a federal highway State transportation officials reviewed and approved the plans for the bridge then spot-checked progress during construction the responsibility to make sure the bridge is built according to plan and to hire their own inspectors to make sure Payne said He said unaware of any major problems with the bridge during construction accepted the project once it was Payne said company is responsible for all future safety State officials made no further safety inspections Under federal law Payne said bridge owners must inspect for safety every two years Idol the state engineer said Sunday he saw three to five cracks each about one-sixteenth to one-eighth inch wide in the re Misfortunes in May It was the third consecutive May in which speedway fans died or were injured in accidents A helicopter ferrying four race fans back to Monroe Airport from the speedway hit a transmission line in Union County in May 1998 killing all five aboard On May 1 1999 a tire spun off a careening open-wheel car and over a safety fence during an Indy Racing League event at the speedway killing three fans in a grandstand Lawsuits claimed the track was negligent in letting the fast Indy-style cars race on a track designed for slower closed-wheel NASCAR cars without beefing up protective measures Robert Beauchamp an Albany Ga lawyer who represents the families of those killed and injured in the wreck last May said the public ought to demand that I 4 Tr- rsom A.