After the I-35W bridge collapsed last year, experts doubted that its replacement, the St. Anthony Falls Bridge, would open by the Christmas Eve 2008 deadline. Instead, the next-gen bridge opened several months early. Now the reporter who conducted a yearlong special investigation into fixing the country's infrastructure breaks down how it worked-and why the new bridge should set an example for urban planners everywhere.

By Erik Sofge

America learned about the sudden collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis in great detail when it buckled and fell last August. And with good reason: Thirteen people died. The cause of its failure remains undetermined despite faulty plates being cited as a major design flaw.

What's been less closely watched is this story's surprisingly happy ending-or at least its new beginning-some 13 months later. By 5 am on Sept. 18, cars and trucks had been lined up for hours on either side of the Mississippi River. When the St. Anthony Falls Bridge, with its next-gen design, officially opened this month, "it was a solid wall of traffic in both directions for over 8 minutes," says Linda Figg, president of FIGG Engineering Group, which designed the structure based on smarter plans for modern engineering. "We heard stories of people trying to line up at midnight, to be part of the first car entourage to cross the new bridge."

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Posted by boyang at September 30, 2008 5:48 AM