Phone call put brakes on bridge repair

[kpete]

Phone call put brakes on bridge repair

records reveal that last year bridge officials talked openly about the possibility of the bridge collapsing -- and worried that it might have to be condemned.

Plans to reinforce the bridge were well underway when the project came to a screeching halt in January amid concerns about safety and cost.

By Tony Kennedy and Paul McEnroe, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: August 18, 2007 – 4:36 PM

The men and women whose job was to ensure the safety of Bridge 9340 were meeting once again. Just after noon on Dec. 6, they filed into a conference room in Roseville to divvy up the final prep work for a dangerous steel reinforcement project high above the Mississippi River.

A senior engineer was going to pull property records in order to contact landowners beneath the bridge. Detours were coming for West River Road. The Coast Guard was about to get heaps of paperwork on what tasks would be done from the river channel. Truck drivers would soon learn of pending weight restrictions.

It appeared that the most studied bridge in Minnesota, the focus of worrisome inspection reports for a decade, was finally going to have its most glaring weaknesses fixed.

But five weeks later, all those preparations stopped. In a single conference call on Jan. 17, the same consultants who said reinforcement plates were needed to strengthen the bridge cautioned MnDOT that drilling for the retrofit could weaken it.

...............

more at:
http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1370130.html

[donsu]

1. kick

nt

[TomInTib]

2. "Investment strategy"? Whoa, Baby....

"We regret the additional work this has caused you and others in the district," Peterson wrote in an e-mail, "but I'm sure you agree that based on this new information it appropriate that we postpone the project until we can determine if another option may as safe and a more cost effective approach."

Yeah, that's it.

KnR

[Bitwit1234]

9. Phew-lenty also turned down the democratic proposal for a 6 cent

a gallon tax for funding the bridge fix. He turned the decision and problem over to his Lt . Gov who he appointed as head of the DOT in MN.

[peacebird]

3. So they knew the bridge was in serious trouble and opted to "inspect" (cough-do nothing- coughcough)

snip

"The "risk" of that approach was described this way: "Must pay approximately 2 million dollars to get the job done."

A logistics and financial issue also was discussed. MnDOT officials said that if the bridge was simply inspected, the benefit would be: "Don't have to pay for steel, stockpile steel, or install steel."

Lovely. I feel just SO much safer now knowing the "grownups" are in charge.....

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. That's a very Libertarian/slum lord approach to solving problems.

If you ignore a problem long enough, it will just go away.

[sam sarrha]

6. i think what they actually meant was that IF they inspected.they might FIND something wrong and have

to FIX it.. causing weight controls over the bridge and flow control to limit the weight over the bridge.. pissing off the Trucking industry.. their concern seemed only Political, that if the bridge became an Election ISSUE.. the ReThugs might not do so well in the next election.

so this is Negligent HOMICIDE..who is responsible .. the one who delayed the work till after the elections or the people who remained quiet who knew the inevitable,

[Gregorian]

4. I hate to say this. But had we not spent our money in Iraq...

There is no excuse for this. They had already predicted a dramatic failure. They were biding their time. I don't want to say they were negligent. They were probably working on an alternative to drilling. But, we actually had a surplus after Clinton left office. We could have literally taken bridges like this down, and replaced them.

In unrelated hystrionics, I have to say- When do the American Nuremberg trials begin. I'm sick and tired of this fascist regime.

[sam sarrha]

7. nothing will happen till the Fascist Media Whores r exposed an truth prevails on th PUBLIC air waves

[peacetalksforall]

8. American Nuremburg Trials - ANT - let them begin. By the way -

has anyone read any estimates of what this will cost (just) the State to pay for a a new bridge, pay for the interim costs - meetings, notices, alternates, public relation, consultants, and to pay lawsuits? Just the State - not the firms who have to pay in time and money to go around or the businesses - or the bus riders?

DOes anyone know the real status of the Super Highway that uses the I-35 according to stories and documents?

[mzmolly]

10. And Minnesotans were none the wiser.

No one told us a thing.

*sigh*

[LuckyLib]

11. After driving over that bridge twice a day for 26 years, it was a sobering read this a.m.

over my morning coffee. Their philosophy seems to have been, "It ain't broke, so don't fix it. And hope like hell it don't break!" But we have money for new facilities -- a baseball stadium, a pro football stadium, and a university football stadium. Yesiree, we DO have our priorities!