Investigators Plan Bridge Reassembly

(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»

Investigators examine site, computer models in quest to explain structural failure

(NEWSER) - State and private experts are investigating the wreckage of the I-35W bridge in search of a structural explanation for Wednesday's collapse, and sophisticated computer modeling is testing stress points. Time looks at bridges, seemingly indestructible structures that carry enormous volumes of traffic and can succumb to anything from corrosion to a faulty component the size of a pin. More»

(NEWSER) - The federal government released $5M to Minneapolis today to help with cleanup and rebuilding after the I-35W bridge collapsed yesterday. Minnesota's senators say they'll need $100M and 2 years to repair the bridge fully. "We in the federal government must respond, and respond robustly," President Bush said. 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»