CBS Chicago interviews Sammy Tin on downed traffic pole

Aug. 29, 2024

Suzanne Le Mignot

A rusted traffic light was spotted after falling onto the sidewalk in the West Loop. The traffic light pole once towered over the intersection at Washington and Morgan, but was lying on the sidewalk. Rust appeared to consume the pole's base. — A rusted traffic light was spotted after falling onto the sidewalk in the West Loop in Chicago.

CBS

CBS Chicago reached out to MSE professor Sammy Tin for insight on a rusted traffic pole that fell onto a sidewalk in the West Loop of Chicago.

Tin, the MSE department head and Patrick R. Taylor Endowed Department Leadership Chair, commented on how the pole's corrosion contributed the collapse.

"There was definitely a significant amount of corrosion that I noticed along the base and in the pictures that you provided," Tin said. "You could definitely tell that the corrosion basically reduced the cross sectional area of the metal, and that is probably what caused failure of the pole."

He added that the service life of a typical light pole is about 30 to 40 years.

Check out the clip from the news segment.