Federal government officials, particularly Mary Peters, the U.S. transportation secretary cautioned the transportation authorities of each state in the country of the need to re-examine their bridges. This admonition was declared after investigations that probed into the devastating collapse of the interstate bridge in Minnesota found that there was a probable design flaw.
Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/04/2007 -- The National Transportation Safety Board or NTSB declared on Wednesday that they have found several issues regarding the gusset plates of the collapsed bridge.
For better understanding, the gusset plates' of the bridge are the steel plates used in tying up the steel beams of the bridge together.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Peters announced an advisory for the states to begin considering the additional stress that is placed every time there are construction projects going on involving bridges.
When the bridge span of the Interstate 35W in Minnesota collapsed last week, there was a construction work going on involving a crew of 18 persons. The work was being done during the rush hour of the early evening.
Consequently, the collapse caused the death of five people and injured around 100 others.
Peters stated on Wednesday that the states should be mindful of the additional weight that construction projects cause on bridges.
As an update to their investigations, NTSB announced that their helicopter inspection found out that the superstructure at the northern side of the bridge have some "tensile fractures." Still, they have found nothing that would lead them to clues on where the collapse started or began.
The investigators assigned are continuously probing and verifying the stresses and loads present in the bridge's beams and the materials used in making the plates.
Furthermore, they are looking into previous reports regarding the bridge's wobbling before its actual collapse on August 1.
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