Gasparini and Fields conclude that the bridge might have survived the loss of the lug had the chords and diagonals been made stronger through active continuous connection. Active continuous connection was not used on the bridge: The members of the chords were connected to angle blocks at only every other panel, the five beams making up each chord did not have a continuous interconnection between them, and the none of the parallel I-beams making up the diagonals were continuously interconnected. Åkesson points out that construction errors probably made the diagonals even less effective as thin members were placed where thicker ones should have gone and vice versa. The braces and counter-braces in a Howe truss must be the same size for the truss system to be robust and redundant. Making a brace stronger relative to a counter-brace, for example, actually reduces robustness and redundancy by changing the relative distribution of forces on the diagonals. These errors appreciably lessened the bridge's ability to withstand extra loading. Stone's strengthening of the bridge after the camber repairs also harmed the bridge's capabilities. By adding two I-beams to the end braces, Stone actually reduced the maximum stress the braces in the end panels could bear.