Bridge Collapse Still a Mystery

(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»

Jigsaw parts to be examined; search for victims continues

(NEWSER) - NTSB investigators will rebuild the wreckage of the I-35W bridge downriver, the Star Tribune reports. Safety officials will examine the twisted rubble piece by piece in an attempt to figure out what caused last week's devastating collapse. Investigators also hope to recover bodies still trapped in the debris. More»

Confirmed death toll climbs to 7; at least 6 more remain missing

(NEWSER) - Authorities recovered two more bodies from the wreckage of the I-35W bridge today, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, bringing the official death toll to seven. One of the bodies has already been identified, and police anticipated retrieving a third as work continued for a seventh full day in and around the Mississippi River. More»

Same metal plates are used by hundreds of other bridges

(NEWSER) - Federal experts investigating the Minneapolis bridge disaster have identified a structural flaw that may have led to the collapse, reports the New York Times. Investigators suspect that steel gusset plates used to connect the girders weren't strong enough to support the bridge right from the start. Federal authorities immediately warned states to be careful to calculate added weight when assigning construction crews to work on bridges. More»

Price tag for removing wreckage likely to approach $15M

(NEWSER) - A final report on the specifics of the Minneapolis bridge collapse will be delayed because of the continuing danger the wreckage poses to investigators, a federal official says, and local authorities project that the cleanup will cost as much as $15 million. The report will examine claims the bridge had been wobbling days before Wednesday’s collapse, the Star Tribune reports. More»