51: I35 West

The I35W bridge over the Mississippi River carried 140,000 cars every day. Inspections in 1999 and 2003 showed damage to support plates that was dismissed as unimportant at the time. We look into how poor design checking and assumptions led to the bridge collapsing in 2007, costing the lives of 13 people.
With John Chidgey.

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Reports:

• Collapse of I-35W Highway Bridge Minneapolis, Minnesota August 1, 2007 (PDF)

General Information:

• I-35W Mississippi River bridge


• URS Corporation


• Sverdrup & Parcel


• Gusset Plate

Articles:

• Design errors factor in 2007 bridge collapse


• NTSB releases final report


• Despite final NTSB report, some still have questions

Videos:

• Inside a Catastrophic Minneapolis Bridge Collapse (YouTube)

Litigation:

• NTSB is wrong about cause of bridge collapse


• Last Minneapolis Bridge Collapse Lawsuit Settled For $52.4 Million

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Episode Gold Producers:
'r' and Steven Bridle.
Episode Silver Producers:
Mitch Biegler, Shane O'Neill, Lesley, Jared Roman, Joel Maher, Katharina Will, Chad Juehring, Dave Jones and Kellen Frodelius-Fujimoto.

With thanks to
Joe Stariha
for the topic suggestion.