After the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed four years ago, killing 13 people, investigators blamed the disaster on undersized steel “gusset plates” that connected its giant beams.
The episode infuriates author Barry LePatner, who accuses the National Transportation Safety Board of avoiding the larger picture: Minnesota officials, citing tight budgets, procrastinated by delaying a strengthening project until 2020, despite warnings by independent engineers that I-35W could fail.
LePatner, a New York construction attorney, argues the entire nation is in similar denial.
Some politicians this year have awakened to the maintenance crisis, making “Too Big to Fall” a timely book. The American Society of Civil Engineers famously rates U.S. roads a D-minus and bridges a C. Nationally, about $96 billion is needed to fix existing roads and transit, LePatner says. Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times
