Originally Posted by
FBinNY
Everyone here was lucky. This could have been worse since pedestrian bridges are built to a lower weight bearing standard than roadway bridges.
That could be a mistake. It's not too hard for a crowd of pedestrians to have a higher weight/sq.ft. loading than bumper-bumper cars in a traffic jam. The weight loading of the Golden Gate bridge during its 50-year anniversary when it was fully occupied by pedestrians was estimated to be about twice what it normally sees during a rush-hour jam of vehicles and the bridge did flatten somewhat as a result.