Sensors Could Stop the Next Bridge Collapse

Victims eligible for $400K apiece

(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 bills and other needs. In exchange, victims will waive their right to sue the city or state. More»

Feds expected to report inadequate plates

(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. More»

Divers recover construction worker's remains

(NEWSER) - The body of the 13th victim and last person missing since the Minneapolis bridge collapse nearly three weeks ago has been recovered, AP reports. Gregory Jolstad, 45, was a member of the 18-person construction crew working on the doomed structure when it plunged into the Mississippi river. The other 17 survived. More»

Bridge was under construction

(NEWSER) - A bridge under construction in Hunan Province collapsed yesterday, killing 22 people and leaving 44 missing. Workers were removing scaffolding from the 880-foot-long span when it crumbled into the Tuo River. Located in the ancient city of Fenghuang and designed as a tourist attraction, the bridge had four decorative stone arches. Most of the workers on the bridge when it fell were local farmers. More»

(NEWSER) - The body of a 2-year-old girl is among those recovered from the wreckage of the I35W bridge in Minneapolis; the toddler's mother has not yet been found, CNN reports. Remains located by divers in the Mississippi today bring the total number of casualties in the Aug. 1 collapse to at least nine. More»