After a 15-month probe, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined the probable cause of last year�s fatal I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis was a design error that caused the failure of gusset plates on the 41-year-old 1,907-ft-long steel-deck truss bridge. They could not carry loads that included deck upgrades, construction materials, equipment and rush-hour traffic when it fell, killing 13 people and in�juring 145. The eight-lane bridge was a non-redundant fracture-critical structure. Slide Show Photo: NTSB I-35W bridge had gusset plates that were too thin Along with the main finding, which the board approved on Nov. 14, NTSB also
Ending a 15-month investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the probable cause of last year's fatal bridge collapse in Minneapolis was the failure of gusset plates due to a design error and the bridge's increased live and dead loads caused by earlier upgrades and the traffic and and construction materials and equipment on its deck at the time it fell. Related Links: NTSB Blames Minn. Bridge Collapse On Gusset Plate Design Error See all past coverage in ENR's Bridge Collapse Update Center Thirteen people were killed and 145 injured on Aug. 1, 2007, when most of the
The pace of contracting for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds is picking up in the highway and transit sectors. A new House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee report on the economic-stimulus legislation shows that 2,901 highway and transit projects, valued at almost $10 billion, have been put out for bid in 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia as of April 30. Related Links: State by State Project List It adds that 1,099 of those projects, totaling $3.5 billion, are under contract. The committee report, released May 21, says that work has started on 545 projects, totaling $2.1 billion.