Car removal to begin by midweek; Investigation enters new phase
MnDOT will remove cars from the deck of the bridge and the channel. Carl Bolander and Sons and Wiss Janney Elstner Associates will clear the channel.
Mike Koob, of Wis Janney Elstner, says the process of clearing debris will be slow going. Crews will need to get a barge from St. Paul to the site of the 35W bridge. Cars, twisted metal and concrete will be placed on that barge for inspection by MnDOT and the National Transportation and Safety Board. Koob says the next step is the south side of the channel.
"The Army Corps of Engineers has asked that we try to focus on the channel where the lock comes through there and try to open a 56-foot-wide section to let barges and ships go through that area," he said.
Koob says 70 or more construction workers will be needed to clear the debris. An estimated cost of the debris removal is $15 million.
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In other developments on Sunday, Minneapolis police say they will begin shrinking the security line around the area of the collapsed bridge. On Monday police will have more details on the changes to the perimeter. As traffic levels increase the department says the 10th Street bridge will reopen before the university begins its fall semester.
MnDOT assistant to the commissioner Bob McFarlin says the department is working with the Met Council to increase transit routes and park-and-rides. It's also adding lighting to Highway 280 to make it a freeway.
"We have been doing some work there over the weekend to add median barriers around Larpenteur Avenue on 280," he said. "The speed limit on 280 has been reduced from 55 miles an hour to 50 miles an hour. So now all of 280 is 50 miles an hour."
The National Transportation Safety Board's Chairman Mark Rosenker says his agency is also moving into a new phase in its investigation. Much of the analysis of the collapse will now take place in Washington.
Rosenker says his agency interviewed employees of PCI, the construction company that was resurfacing the 35W bridge at the time of the collapse. Rosenker says PCI is an experienced construction company.
"PCI has worked on this bridge before and they began working their most recent contract in early June," he said. "The interviews provided us with an understanding of their construction process and the equipment and materials that were used on the bridge. We received preliminary information regarding quantities of materials, and the equipment they had on the bridge."
Rosenker says PCI is under no more suspicion than any other point of interest in the investigation.
Rosenker says the rescue, recovery and investigation of the the 35W bridge has been textbook. He says the work of his agency will be much easier as a result of the video of the bridge. Rosenker says his department will also be looking at a detailed weather history of the bridge, as well as the number of cars on the bridge at the time of the collapse and the speed they were going. He believes a final report will be done in 18 months.
