Minn. Bridge Problems Uncovered in 1990

[Poiuyt]

Minn. Bridge Problems Uncovered in 1990

Aug 2, 10:19 PM (ET)

By SHARON COHEN and BRIAN BAKST



MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesota officials were warned as early as 1990 that the bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River was "structurally deficient," yet they relied on patchwork repairs and stepped-up inspections that unraveled amid a thunderous plunge of concrete and automobiles.

"We thought we had done all we could," state bridge engineer Dan Dorgan told reporters not far from the mangled remains of the span. "Obviously something went terribly wrong."

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n 1990, the federal government gave the I-35W bridge a rating of "structurally deficient," citing significant corrosion in its bearings. The bridge is one of about 77,000 bridges in that category nationwide, 1,160 in Minnesota alone.

The designation means some portions of the bridge needed to be scheduled for repair or replacement, and it was on a schedule for inspection every two years.

Dorgan said the bearings could not have been repaired without jacking up the entire deck of the bridge. Because the bearings were not sliding, inspectors concluded the corrosion was not a major issue.

During the 1990s, later inspections found fatigue cracks and corrosion in the steel around the bridge's joints. Those problems were repaired. Starting in 1993, the state said, the bridge was inspected annually instead of every other year.

A 2005 federal inspection also rated the bridge structurally deficient, giving it a 50 on a scale of 100 for structural stability.

more -

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070803/D8QP92CO0.html

[Octafish]

1. Smoking Gun

Wow! The feds and state folk have known they needed to fix the problem, but passed the buck to future generations.

That's been republicon SOP since Pruneface Reagan's Trickle-Down days.

Thanks for the most important article, Poiuyt!