Bridge was bearing more vehicles than it was designed to carry

Grants | Legacy Digitization | Topics | Politics | Special Collections | 35W Bridge Collapse |
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MnDOT says the 35W bridge was totally capable of carrying the some 140,000 a day that used it at the time of its collapse last week. At a briefing today, transportation officials wouldn't speculate on whether the amount of traffic somehow contributed to the failure of the bridge. However, the head of the University of Minnesota engineering department says increased traffic on a bridge experiencing fatigue will shorten its life span. When it collapsed, the 35W bridge was 40 years old, but its life span was predicted to be 50 years. Minnesota Public Radio's Sea Stachura reports.

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Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.

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