The Cover-Up Continues
The National Transportation Safety Board is ready to release it's final report on the cause of the 35W Bridge collapse last year.
It also listed some of the things that did NOT cause the collapse....
Notice that they did not rule Carol Molnau, Governor Pawlenty or a lack of transportation funding, as many have speculated. OK you know that I am being just a tiny bit sarcastic with that comment...
The thing is, the gusset plates have long been a suspect in the collapse of the bridge.
JRoosh and Ed have thoughts up about the report and they both sum it up quite nicely. After you read them, you might want to remember who had warning (in 2000) about the weakness of the gusset plates.....that would be former Transportation Commissioner and current candidate for the 6th CD El Tinklenberg!
Original designers of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis likely neglected to calculate the size of key gusset plates that eventually failed, a human mistake that culminated 40 years later when 13 people died after the span collapsed, federal safety investigators have found.
It also listed some of the things that did NOT cause the collapse....
They also have determined that corrosion of certain gusset plates, extreme heat and shifting piers did not contribute to the bridge's collapse on Aug. 1, 2007, according to sources with direct knowledge of the probe.
Notice that they did not rule Carol Molnau, Governor Pawlenty or a lack of transportation funding, as many have speculated. OK you know that I am being just a tiny bit sarcastic with that comment...
The thing is, the gusset plates have long been a suspect in the collapse of the bridge.
In January, NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker was criticized by U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., and others for placing too much early emphasis on gusset plate failure as the potential cause. But the investigators' findings appear to validate Rosenker's early stance.
JRoosh and Ed have thoughts up about the report and they both sum it up quite nicely. After you read them, you might want to remember who had warning (in 2000) about the weakness of the gusset plates.....that would be former Transportation Commissioner and current candidate for the 6th CD El Tinklenberg!
Labels: 35W Bridge collapse, Elwin Tinklenberg, Michele Bachmann
posted by The Lady Logician at
4:37 PM
1 Comments:
I live in St. Cloud. The Desoto Bridge here, over the Mississippi, was of similar design and age to the 35W bridge. After the collapse of the 35W bridge, it was one of four bridges statewide that got an immediate inspection. It was put on a schedule for closer and more frequent inspections. Last summer, bent gusset plates were found that evidently were not bent on previous inspections. It was immediately closed, and subsequently demolished. Construction is starting on the replacement.
You referenced a StarTribune article dated June 14 2008. The top of the article has a photo of bent gusset plates on the 35W bridge, the photo dated June 10 2003. Those bent gusset plates look just like the ones on the DeSoto Bridge. Too bad the 35W Bridge wasn't immediately closed, like the DeSoto Bridge. It's surprising it stood for four years. Clearly, the peril was not recognized. Yet you try to pin blame on Elwyn Tinglenberg for not acting on an engineering report in 2000 proposing examining the gusset plates on the bridge and making various improvements.
HNTB Corp. of Kansas City did the study at no cost. To me, this "study" is very suspect. I would hesitate to make any accusations without having seen the actual study by HNTB. It reminds me of the unsolicited phone calls I used to get, trying to sell me new windows or siding just because I own a home. Of course, the recommendation is to do some kind of work, that's why HNTB did the study. I don't think this indicates anything, not without seeing their specific analysis of the bridge elements.
Besides, the 35W bridge was a structurally deficient bridge of obsolete design. Is it prudent to pour a pile of money into such a bridge? If the recommendations were followed, would it have prevented the collapse? That's far from certain. Or is it better to put that money towards a new bridge? Because you can't take a fracture critical bridge and make it so it's not fracture critical. How do you factor in corrosion, stress fracturing, etc? It would have to be overengineered to such a degree that it would not be cost effective. Who would sign off on it and take the liability for such a project? That's crazy!
Six months ago I read an article addressing the gusset plates and why they were half as thick as they should have been. Apparently an initial design was made, then the parameters were changed. A lane was added or something like that. The new design never had recalculated gusset plates.
Like any disaster, the 35W bridge collapse was an unfortunate convergence of a number of tragic elements. But ultimately, had the gusset plates been thicker, the bridge probably would not have collapsed, or at least not in August of 2007. It still comes down to funding. The highway system priority list exists, just waiting for the funding. If you want safer bridges, all that's needed is the funding. If you don't want to pay for the bridges, then you just will have to live with the risk. It's just that simple.
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