Law enforcement search for armed suspect, Vance Boelter, in fatal shooting of Minnesota lawmaker.

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

(AP) - State transportation officials are
replacing a St. Cloud bridge even though engineers believed a
repair to strengthen its steel plates would be adequate in the
short run, the St. Cloud Times reported on Sunday.

      The DeSoto bridge shares the same design as the Minneapolis
bridge that fell on Aug. 1, and like other Minnesota bridges it was
re-inspected after the collapse.

      On Aug. 10, Minnesota Department of Transportation maintenance
engineer Dan Anderson wrote to Nancy Daubenberger, a bridge
planning engineer, about failing paint, corroding rebar in the St.
Cloud bridge deck, and "some expansion problems with the
approaches and concrete deck girder spans on either end of the
bridge." 

But he reported nothing that would warrant immediate
closure, according to the Times, which reviewed MnDOT memos,
e-mails and reports.

      "In conclusion, the question of do we need painting, plating,
deck work that is extraordinary at this time? No," Anderson wrote.
"Do we need funding to replace the bridge in the next 8-12 years?
Yes."

      On March 20 the bridge was hastily closed after inspectors found
that four of the steel plates that help hold the bridge together
had bowed by about a quarter inch. The same gusset plates are blamed in part for the collapse of the Minneapolis
bridge.

      A few days later, an engineering firm hired by MnDOT to inspect
the gusset plates determined that the bowing probably stemmed from
a problem with the original design, not any changes to the bridge's
load. 

The report by Wiss Janney Elstner Associates stated that the
distorted plates are likely due to "original fit up issues," such
as mismatched pieces of different thicknesses.

      Wiss Janney recommended bracing the gusset plates with steel
stiffeners. The firm said the gusset plates are adequately sized
and have "sufficient strength" to carry current bridge loads,
which were about half that of the I-35W bridge before it collapsed.


The distortions "have not compromised the abilities of the
affected gusset plates to sustain required design loads," Wiss
Janney's report states.

      The immediate closing on March 20 was "admittedly in hindsight
a very conservative decision," state bridge engineer Dan Dorgan
said. 

But he noted the decision was made based on the information
available at the time, before the Wiss Janney report was issued.

"That depth of analysis we didn't have the afternoon of March
20," Dorgan said.

      The four-lane bridge was built in 1957 and carried 31,000
vehicles a day. It was scheduled for replacement in 2015, and MNDOT
had been considering accelerating the timetable to 2010 even before
the emergency closure. Dorgan said that was a factor in replacing
it instead of repairing it.

      The new bridge is scheduled to be open to traffic by November
2009.

      Mayor Dave Kleis and Dorgan both said the city's push to build a
new bridge rather than repair DeSoto was a significant factor in
MnDOT's decision to replace it.

      "Our insistence was replace the bridge right away," Kleis
said. "Because it makes no sense to put any dollars into it and
then have it disrupted for as long as it would be, and then have it
disrupted again in 2010."

Gallery

Closed St. Cloud bridge to be replaced

MNDOT to annouce future of DeSoto bridge

St. Cloud bridge closure is a hassle for some drivers

NTSB examines St. Cloud's DeSoto Bridge

State transportation officials are
replacing a St. Cloud bridge even though engineers believed a
repair to strengthen its steel plates would be adequate in the
short run, the St. Cloud Times reported on Sunday.

Report: St. Cloud bridge could have been repaired

Go Deeper.

Like this?