Bridge Collapse

Good Question: What's Changed Since The Collapse?

(WCCO) In the aftermath of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse, it was a given that things would never be the same. But how much did things really change?

"I think unquestionably things have changed," according to Patrick Nunnally, Coordinator of the River Life program at the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment. Nunnally taught a course on the bridge collapse in the weeks after it happened.

"A year ago did you know what a 'gusset plate' was? What a 'fracture critical bridge' meant?" asked Nunnally.

Since the collapse, the state legislature passed a gasoline tax, overriding Governor Tim Pawlenty's veto. That money is supposed to go to fixing our roads and bridges.

The Senate kicked Lt. Governor Carol Molneau out of her job as Transportation Commissioner. Governor Pawlenty replaced her with a career transportation guy, Tom Sorel.

A state report concluded that MnDOT put off maintenance on I-35W because it cost so much. Sorel said replacing other bridges was a higher priority at the time because they seemed to be in worse shape.

Since the collapse, every state bridge in Minnesota has been inspected, some of them re-inspected. A handful of bridges have been closed, including bridges in Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Stillwater, Hastings, and Winona.

"The bridge fix, bridge repair problems are not going away," said Nunnally.

The Associated Press reported that nearly two out of three of the nation's busiest problem bridges have seen no change, no repairs, nothing other than routine maintenance.

"A lot of people say there's been a lot of talk, not a ton of action yet. Do you think that's fair?" asked WCCO reporter Jason DeRusha.

"Well I think it is," said Nunnally. "Changing the way we think about public infrastructure we have is going to take a long time," he added. "I'm always hopeful that smart, well-intentioned people will find ways to come together to solve public problems. I'm never surprised when they don't."

A federal report suggested that Congress needs to spend $140 billion to fix our nation's failing bridges. So far $1 billion has been authorized, another $1 billion has been proposed although President Bush has threatened to veto that measure.

"We really know now that the bridges we have won't stand up forever without investing a lot in keeping them up and keeping the highway infrastructure going. We know that now, we didn't probably think about that a year ago," said Nunnally, suggesting that may be the biggest shift in public dialogue.

He's hopeful that the Senate and Presidential campaigns will continue the focus on fixing the old, instead of simply being attracted to the new.

"If we can change the habits of the politicians and agency staff to ask questions about what's been kept up, what's current status, rather than focusing on ribbon cuttings, that will be a sea-change," he said. "That will be a historic evolution in how we think about transportation and what we invest our public dollars in."

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