Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


0

Inspectors Highlighted Bridge Faults

Debris removal delayed as Navy, FBI divers comb wreckage

Share

(Newser) – The I-35W bridge collapse followed 10 years' worth of warnings from bridge inspectors, who eventually recommended that the structure be replaced, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Experts disagree on the urgency with which the warnings were issued and should have been addressed, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty said yesterday that no experts indicated the bridge should be closed.

Meanwhile, officials said today removal of the wreckage, originally scheduled to begin by late this week, must wait for Navy and FBI divers to complete their search of the Mississippi, the AP reports. Eighty-eight vehicles remain on the site, some underwater, where a police spokesman said they'll remain unless they're interfering with the divers' work.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, President Bush, Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak and Gary Babineau, from left, tour the site of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. Babineau, who was in his truck on the bridge when it collapsed, helped rescue kids from a school bus...
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, President Bush, Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak and Gary Babineau, from left, tour the site of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. Babineau,...   (Associated Press)
Recovery efforts continue Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, at the site of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Fears that the death toll would rise dramatically as workers searched through the wreckage of the bridge that plunged into the Mississippi River eased Friday when authorities lowered the number of missing...
Recovery efforts continue Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, at the site of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Fears that the death toll would rise dramatically as workers searched through the wreckage...   (Associated Press)
A worker makes his way through the collapsed bridge surface and past submerged vehicles as President Bush, not pictured, tours the Interstate 35W bridge collapse into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
A worker makes his way through the collapsed bridge surface and past submerged vehicles as President Bush, not pictured, tours the Interstate 35W bridge collapse into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis,...   (Associated Press)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
0 comments
VIEWING:
 
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

18 Stories

 Minneapolis Greets New Bridge 

Drivers queued up to see collapsed bridge replacement

Sep 18, 08 12:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Festive honks awoke Minneapolis today as first responders to last year's bridge collapse led a procession over its newly-minted replacement. Drivers waved and passengers snapped photos as they rode over the 10-lane interstate at a creeping 10mph. Traffic was backed up for a mile after the bridge opened at 5am... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Minneapolis • construction • Minnesota • bridge collapse • Interstate 35

Minn., Bridge Victims Strike $38M Compensation Deal

Victims eligible for $400K apiece

May 2, 08 1:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Minnesota will establish two funds totaling $38 million to compensate victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed 13 people last summer, the Star Tribune reports. One pool allows victims up to $400,000 each; the other provides those "extraordinarily impacted" by the collapse with extra funds for medical... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Minneapolis • Minnesota • bridge collapse • bridge • settlement • compensation • disaster

UPDATED

Bridge Had Fatal Design Flaw

Feds expected to report inadequate plates

Jan 15, 08 11:50 AM CST
(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,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Minneapolis • Mississippi River • bridge collapse • bridge • I 35W bridge

18 Stories


Collapse may affect gas prices
Associated Press

Wreckage removal must wait for divers to complete search
Associated Press

Most vehicles at the disaster site are trapped under rubble
Minneapolis Star Tribune


US 
TwitterFollow @Newser on Twitter

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

from our news partners