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... bridge inspection and maintenance records bearing upon whether officials knew or should have known that the bridge was in poor condition, with one early report making some rather unsettling observations: The I-35W bridge was given a low "sufficiency rating," which varies from the best score of 100 down to 0. ... high-traffic bridges rated below below the Minneapolis bridge. Out of 104,348 heavily used structures, only 4,227, or 4 percent, scored below 50, or worse than the I-35W ...

... series on I-35W bridge The U is hosting a lecture series to examine the aftermath of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. in 100 Rapson Hall on the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis. Topics are "The Mississippi as a ... Go?" (October 23); "Between Prairie and Sea: The Mississippi River as a Continental Transportation System" (October 30); "A Vital Cog in the Regional Network: The New Bridge as a Transportation Link" (November 6); "The Design of a New Bridge" (November 13); and " ...

I grew up in Minneapolis. I traveled over the I-35W Bridge hundreds of times. I drove under the bridge on a boat dozens of times. I marveled at the beauty of the bridge and the beautiful views from the bridge. I never imagined ... professionals made sure it would not fail. I was horrified when I heard that those charged with the responsibility to keep the bridge safe did nothing despite knowing the bridge might fail. I am frightened that those same people will likely never be held accountable for ...

Former Minnesota State Bar Association President Susan Holden greets visitors to the Special Compensation Process for Survivors of the I-35W Bridge Collapse website. Ms. Holden and two other Minnesota personal injury lawyers have agreed to serve as Special Masters (decisionmakers) in claims brought by bridge collapse victims. On May 8, 2008, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed a bill that set aside $37 million dollars to ...

Most of the reporting on the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis has been somewhat more respectful and less ignorant and exploitive than usual for disasters. Maybe that's because it's in our backyard. But despite some excellent reporting by Minnesota Public Radio, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, buzz.mn, and CNN, there's always the exception. The award for stupidest I-25W report yet goes to KELOLAND for Thursday evening's story about the Minnesota State Trooper ...

CNN has actual video of the bridge collapse. View: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/08/02/vosli.mn.i35w.bridge.collapse.side.view.cnn?iref=mpvideosview Pretty freakin' incredible. Apparently the person on the bridge didn't have permission to be there. Hat tip to Buzz.mn, the Minneapolis Star Tribune's community blog pages. The blogs are also an interesting use of citizen journalism. [where: 55401]

While "the divers are still in the river looking": Omar Jamal of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis said he has received at least a dozen telephone calls from law firms, most of them local, since it became public knowledge that a pregnant Somali woman, Sadiya Sahal, and her 2-year-old daughter, Hanah Mohamed, were among those missing after the collapse. The calls started coming about 4 p.m. Thursday, less than 24 hours after the collapse, and haven't stopped, Jamal said. Some of ...

... to hear the insurance industry making statements that they will take care of any claims arising out of the Minneapolis bridge collapse tragedy without delay. According to a vice president at the Insurance Federation of Minnesota, "There will be no ... the structure. This undertone has been looming in the news of late that the officials were warned some time ago about the dangers of this I-35W Bridge that hosted a heavy volume of traffic through downtown Minneapolis, Minn. I can't get over the fact ...

Minnesota Lawyer has an interesting article posted on its website about the I-35W bridge report. Gray Plant Mooty -- the private local firm that the Legislature hired to investigate the circumstances of the bridge collapse -- agreed when it took the job to cap its fees at $500K. After thousands of hours spent on the project -- and a big investment of IT-resources -- the firm submitted a 15-inch thick ...

... State of Minnesota. The state has established a $37 million fund to compensate survivors of the August 1, 2007 bridge collapse. The law established a special master panel to consider claims, make settlement offers and enter settlement agreements ... on May 29. The law authorizing this compensation process defines an eligible survivor as "a natural person who was present on the I-35W bridge at the time of the collapse." A survivor also includes family members who survive a person who perished in the ...