Bridges Not Bombs

Minneapolis bridge death toll hits 12

Phone call stops Minneapolis bridge repairs

by Kayakbiker
Sun Aug 19, 2007 at 08:42:22 AM PDT
Details are beginning to emerge about serious concerns about the safety of the I35W bridge prior to its collapse. Records observed by the Star Tribune
reveal that last year bridge officials talked openly about the possibility of the bridge collapsing -- and worried that it might have to be condemned.

This news is reported in an article titled Phone call puts brakes on

bridge repair

Steel plate reinforcements were recommended to make the bridge safe, but this solution was not pursued. Officials denied in public interviews that money was a factor: But at least three internal documents suggest that money was a consideration.
On Jan. 18, one day after MnDOT's Bridge Office opted to inspect rather than reinforce the bridge, Peterson apologized to an engineer in the department's Metro Design section that work put into the reinforcing project was for naught. "We regret the additional work this has caused you and others in the district," Peterson wrote in an e-mail, "but I'm sure you agree that based on this new information it [is] appropriate that we postpone the project until we can determine if another option may [be] as safe and a more cost effective approach." >>>cont