But...but...wait!

The conventional wisdom is that the I-35W bridge, aged and due for major maintenance, collapsed because of neglect. Surely the inspectors missed something, or their higher-ups delayed needed repairs, until the 40-year-old span plunged into the Mississippi, the popular belief goes. State officials and engineering executives all over the country have joined the chorus, arguing that the collapse — in which 13 people died and more than 100 were injured — demonstrates the need for expanded maintenance budgets. On Tuesday, the treasurer of Massachusetts said that his state should raise and spend $600 million on bridges to “avoid a future Minnesota incident.”

But the Safety Board reported on Jan. 15 that the problem in Minnesota was not age or money. The design of the bridge that collapsed was no good from the day it opened, the board reported. An engineer in the mid-1960’s had specified gusset plates, the big sheets of steel that tie the girders together, of half-inch thickness when they should have been an inch, the board said.

(NYTimes)