Minneapolis Bridge Failure: Initial Musings

After the Minneapolis I-35W bridge fell last week, immediately some conspiracy theorists started making noises of "terrorism" and "al Qaeda." My very first impression: a structural issue.

This article would tend to confirm that conclusion:

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 8 — Investigators have found what may be a design flaw in the bridge that collapsed here a week ago, in the steel parts that connect girders, raising safety concerns for other bridges around the country, federal officials said today.

The Federal Highway Administration swiftly responded by urging all states to take extra care with how much weight they place on bridges when sending construction crews to work on bridges. Crews were doing work on the deck of the Interstate 35W bridge when it gave way, hurling rush-hour traffic into the Mississippi River and killing at least five people.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation is months from completion, and officials in Washington said they were still working to confirm the design flaw in the so-called gusset plates and what, if any, role it had in the collapse.

Still, in making public their suspicion about a flaw, the investigators were signaling they consider it a potentially crucial discovery and also a safety concern for other bridges around the country. Gusset plates are used in the construction of many bridges, not just those with a similar design to the one here.

“Given the questions being raised by the N.T.S.B., it is vital that states remain mindful of the extra weight construction projects place on bridges,” Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters said in a statement issued late today.

One civil engineer called in to a nation talk show I heard, and indicated he believed the problem was twofold: the requirements of construction yielded the closure of one entire set of directional lanes. All traffic, therefore, was shunted to the only remaining set of lanes open. This apparently placed twice the weight on one sole span of the bridge. This, along with the potential disturbance or vibration created by the construction itself, may have been a contributing factor to the collapse.

Certain personnel have attempted to lay the blame for this incident squarely at the foot of the Bush Administration. In my opinion, this couldn't be farther from the truth. The true culprits are the bridge inspectors coupled with the frequency and/or depth (or lack thereof) of inspection.

Here in Fornicalia, suddenly bridge inspection is a massive priority.

That tells me all I need to know about the focus and priority my state has placed on the issue.

BZ