A Backhoe weighing 8 tons is on top of a flatbed trailer and heading
east on Interstate 70 near Hays, Kansas. The extended shovel arm is
made of hardened refined steel and the approaching overpass is made of
commercial-grade concrete, reinforced with 1 ½ inch steel rebar spaced at 6 inch intervals in a criss-cross pattern layered at 1 foot vertical spacing.
Solve: When the shovel arm hits the overpass, how fast do you have to be going to slice the bridge in half?
(Assume no effect for headwind and no breaking by the driver...)
Extra points: Solve for the time and distance required for the entire rig to come to a complete stop
after hitting the overpass at the speed calculated above.
