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A comment on The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has Collapsed. Parent comment

Re:The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has C... by ClumsyPilot on Tuesday March 26, 2024 @02:36PM (#39831257)
This is really bad math, your calculation is not about bridge strength / longevity but about how many bridges we built recently.

For example, if tomorrow we decided to build a new bridge next to every old bridge, average lifespan would half.

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Re:The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has C... by Retric on Tuesday March 26, 2024 @03:13PM (#39831684)
current age != lifespan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy

> if tomorrow we decided to build a new bridge next to every old bridge, average lifespan would half.

The only way building a bunch of new bridges changes lifespan is if we changed how they where built.

Figuring out lifespan rather than age is at best an approximation after looking at the bridges that didn't survive and the condition of bridges that do, but the uncertainty is low.

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