Ethics Interstate -35 West Mississippi River Bridge Essay

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 892 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 0

Page 1 of 3

Ethics

Interstate -35 West Mississippi River Bridge

The collapse of the Interstate-35 West Mississippi River Bridge, which is also known as Bridge 9340, was one of the most dramatic cases of structural engineering failure in the history of the United States within the past five years. The abrupt collapse of the eight-lane structure in Minneapolis, Minnesota on August 1, 2007, which killed approximately 13 people and injured upwards of over 100 travelers, brought to mind several of the traditional ethical issues of engineering in the workplace as many of the deceased and their loved ones agonized over how such a structural failure could take place. Unfortunately, the bridge had a long history of safety issues dating back to 1990 in which it was determined to be deficient by the federal government. Subsequent reports as recent as 2006 found substantial amounts of cracking and weakening in the girders and approach spans, while the bridge's annual inspection by Mn/DOT (which had been conducting such inspections since 1993) was not held in 2007.

Consequently, several ethical issues and perspectives abound in a case as devastating as this particular one. The foremost ethical concern for any structural engineering work should ideally be the safety of those who will be accessing and using the particular structure. The safety of the users of the Interstate 35 West Mississippi Bridge, however, was considerably compromised throughout the years following the bridge's initial construction in the 1960's due to additional weight (primarily in the form of concrete barriers) to the bridge's dead load, which is the amount of weight the bridge must be able to maintain without additional travelers.

Stuck Writing Your "Ethics Interstate -35 West Mississippi River Bridge" Essay?

View All Our Example Ethics Interstate -35 West Mississippi River Bridge Essay

Have A Custom Example Essay Written



The additions to the bridge's dead load was more than likely a gradual process which increased over the duration of several years, yet this process brings forth ethical issues popularized by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill known as utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the concept that mandates the ethical or moral worth of an action is judged by the greatest amount of good produced by it. Whatever result the greatest amount of good is produced towards is the most moral or ethical path of behavior. When analyzing the modifications made to the Interstate 35 West Mississippi Bridge, however, one must examine the issue of whether or not the addition of the concrete barriers to this particular structure was worth the plethora of negative ramifications that were induced by the bridge's collapse. Such horrid consequences include, of course, the dead travelers and the effects of their deaths upon their families and friends, as well as the numerous injuries incurred by the several other travelers present, and the consequences of these injuries upon their surrounding environment, family members and….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Ethics Interstate -35 West Mississippi River Bridge" (2011, July 17) Retrieved May 7, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/ethics-interstate-35-west-mississippi-river-43345

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Ethics Interstate -35 West Mississippi River Bridge" 17 July 2011. Web.7 May. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/ethics-interstate-35-west-mississippi-river-43345>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Ethics Interstate -35 West Mississippi River Bridge", 17 July 2011, Accessed.7 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/ethics-interstate-35-west-mississippi-river-43345
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example