Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

Bridge Had Fatal Design Flaw

Feds expected to report inadequate plates

By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 15, 2008 11:50 AM CST
Email

(Newser) – The Minneapolis bridge that failed last summer, killing 13 people, had fatal design flaws, the NTSB announced today. Steel gusset plates that held together beams on the eight-lane bridge were half the thickness they should have been, investigators found. While the agency didn't say the gusset plates caused the collapse,16 fractured plates were discovered on the center span, which collapsed during the evening rush hour Aug. 1, AP reports.

The gussets were deemed to have been inadequate when the span was built in the 1960s;  tons of weight added during construction projects, including one at the time of the collapse, exacerbated the weakness. Investigators did not find evidence that corrosion or wear played a role in the bridge's failure. “This is not a bridge-inspection thing,” one investigator told the New York Times. “It’s calculating loads and looking at designs.”

Divers search the Mississippi River for victims of Wednesday's bridge collapse in Minneapolis, on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007. (AP Photo/Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jim Gehrz)
Divers search the Mississippi River for victims of Wednesday's bridge collapse in Minneapolis, on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007. (AP Photo/Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jim Gehrz)   (Associated Press)
Cars sit abandoned on the Interstate 35W bridge after it collapsed over the Mississippi River on Wednesday in Minneapolis, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007. The official death count from Wednesday evening's collapse stood at four, but Police Chief Tim Dolan said more bodies were in the water. Hospitals officials said 79...
Cars sit abandoned on the Interstate 35W bridge after it collapsed over the Mississippi River on Wednesday in Minneapolis, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007. The official death count from Wednesday evening's collapse...   (Associated Press)
An inspector from PB Americas Inc. taps on the concrete of an overpass to listen for hollow spots on Interstate 35W, south of Minneapolis, on an icy day, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. The state is undergoing a full-scale review of all bridges in the wake of the Interstate 35W bridge...
An inspector from PB Americas Inc. taps on the concrete of an overpass to listen for hollow spots on Interstate 35W, south of Minneapolis, on an icy day, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. The state is undergoing...   (Associated Press)
Tom Jenkins, with FIGG, the lead designer for the new Interstate 35W bridge project in Minneapolis, adjusts drawings of the new bridge Monday, Oct. 8, 2007 in St. Paul. Minn. , where it was announced that FIGG and Flatiron-Manson were awarded the contract for the design and construction of the project...
Tom Jenkins, with FIGG, the lead designer for the new Interstate 35W bridge project in Minneapolis, adjusts drawings of the new bridge Monday, Oct. 8, 2007 in St. Paul. Minn. , where it was announced...   (Associated Press)
Divers search for victims near the Interstate 35W bridge which collapsed over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, in this Aug. 2, 2007 file photo.(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
Divers search for victims near the Interstate 35W bridge which collapsed over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, in this Aug. 2, 2007 file photo.(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)   (Associated Press)
Officials inspect the scene of the Interstate-35W bridge Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007, in Minneapolis, the day after it collapse into the Mississippi River. (AP Photo/Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jim Gehrz)
Officials inspect the scene of the Interstate-35W bridge Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007, in Minneapolis, the day after it collapse into the Mississippi River. (AP Photo/Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jim Gehrz)   (Associated Press)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

Design, not old age, was problem
Minneapolis Star Tribune

US

 
Minneapolis • Mississippi River • bridge collapse • bridge • I 35W bridge

More Newser Stories

Minneapolis Greets New Bridge

Minn., Bridge Victims Strike $38M Compensation Deal

Final Bridge Victim Found

Bridge Collapse Kills 22 in China

Sensors Could Stop the Next Bridge Collapse
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne