On 15 October 1970 at 11.50am, a section of the West Gate Bridge known as span 10-11 suddenly collapsed and fell 50 metres. The bridge had been under construction for two to three years. In total, 35 workers died as a result of the collapse.
A Royal Commission into the incident was set up to examine and report on the faults with the bridge. These were identified in design, construction, supervision, labour management and communication.
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Alia Christine Burton, ‘Lessons learned in the design and erection of box girder bridges from the West Gate collapse,’ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Thesis (M.Eng), 2007 website viewed 11 November 2014.
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Only Melbourne, West Gate Bridge exhibit, website viewed 17 August 2011.
Report of the Royal Commission into the Failure of West Gate Bridge, Victoria, 1971, website viewed 11 November 2014.
Worksafe Australia, Occupational Health and Safety for engineers, Collapse of the West Gate Bridge, website viewed 17 August 2011.
