quote:MINNEAPOLIS - Old photos of the Interstate 35W bridge show two steel connecting plates were visibly bent as early as 2003 — four years before the span collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people.
Minnesota Department of Transportation officials declined to say when the state first knew about the bending in the pieces of steel, called gusset plates
Two photos, part of a report issued earlier this month by the National Transportation Safety Board, reveal slight bends in gusset plates that hold beams together at two separate connecting points. The plates are in areas believed to be among the first points of failure when the span collapsed.
The NTSB's Office of Highway Safety confirmed that the bowing is part of the investigation into why the bridge collapsed Aug. 1, the Star Tribune newspaper reported Sunday.
NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker didn't comment on the photos, but has said the original design for the bridge specified steel for those and other gusset plates that was too thin.
NTSB spokesman Terry Williams told the Star Tribune the bowing is among "the many things that we are looking at as part of this investigation."
The newspaper said inspection records make no mention of repairs to the bending gusset plates.
quote:Originally posted by glassman: steel for those and other gusset plates that was too thin.
duh. that was the first thing that i noticed and i'm not even an engineer. it looks almost like sheet metal compared to the beams....
quote:Since the bridge's construction during the 1960s, the state highway department had increased weight on the bridge by adding a layer of concrete to the deck in 1977 and by installing concrete barriers in 1998. And the NTSB said last week that, at the time of the collapse, more than 191 tons of construction material had been piled over the bridge's weakest areas.
Couple those with severe corrosion and you have the I35W tragedy.
So who is responsible?
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Most of the time it's the politicians responsibility. Mostly Governors pizzing the money away on various frivolous expenses. Not just that one elected Official, but it trickles down from there in my opinion.
If you look around there are a ton on road/bridge jobs that need to be undertaken as soon as yesterday. We will be hearing of another incident like this again...
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The way I look at it, the engineer that drew up the original design with inadequate gusset plates and the firm the engineer works for is responsible, the person or organization who signed off the designs is responsible, the engineers who HAD to review the design when they added weight in 1977, 1998 and the bridge resurface in 2007, the person or organization that approved those construction plans, the bridge inspectors that were monitoring the bridge and the firm they worked for that signed off on the inspection work, the MDOT for failing to properly maintain the bridge, and EVERY bureaucrat and politician that signed of or turned a blind eye along the way.... Plenty of blame to go around...
So I guess the real question should be, HOW do we hold these people responisble and what can we do to prevent something like this happening again.
As far as road/bridges that need work??.. LOL I live in PA so trust me I dont have to look around very hard. I work for a firm that does bridge inspections for PennDot and I've seen a few reports of local bridges in the area... Needless to say, there are two in my county I refuse to drive over...
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Have you heard about the bridge in St. Cloud MN that is now indefinitely closed until replacement? Same bridge design, found gusset plates that were beginning to warp.
You hear about the design they (our MNDOT board who was then headed by the lieutenant governor - now removed from transportation office) chose to replace the 35W bridge?
No redundancy though that was one of the key criteria. Passed up multiple "more safe" "less expensive" designs to build one whose weight will rest on cables holding the separately constructed box frames together. 'ONE' of those cables that will not be visible to the eye ever goes...the whole construct will go down.
Insanity.
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Victims see bridge deal as closure $38 million fund OKd in Minnesota
By Mike Kaszuba | Minneapolis Star Tribune 10:24 PM CDT, May 2, 2008
quote:MINNEAPOLIS — Nine months after the collapse of the Interstate Highway 35W bridge, a special $38 million state fund is being created to help compensate the victims.
Amid hugs, handshakes and smiles, legislators announced an agreement Friday on a proposal that would offer everyone who was on the bridge up to $400,000, with an additional $12.6 million pool for the people who suffered the most severe injuries and losses.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty quickly endorsed the compromise, which is expected to win formal approval from the Legislature as early as Monday.
New I-35W bridge may open in September, three months early
The Associated Press - Sunday, May 04, 2008 MINNEAPOLIS
quote:Work on the new Interstate 35W bridge is progressing so well that construction managers said Saturday they expect to open it by mid-September instead of late December as originally scheduled.
Managers for Flatiron Constructors Corp. said during a weekly public tour of the construction site Saturday that the bridge is 65 percent complete, and they could begin hanging concrete segments over the Mississippi River as soon as May 14 or 15. That's three months earlier than originally scheduled.
Flatiron's reward for getting the job done early could be an extra $20 million in federal funds, the Star Tribune reported.
The company's $234 million contract with the state calls sets a Dec. 24 completion date, but includes a $200,000-a-day incentive for each day the bridge is finished before that, up to 100 days.
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