I heard it was weld gusset plates.
Do you think it was something else?
“I heard it was weld gusset plates.”
Well, actually they appear to be riveted, but information from several posters on FR who are very knowledgeable in that exact field, indicates that was what failed.
Now. What caused them to fail?
Deterioration?
Load factors higher than bridge design?
Vibrations from jackhammers working right above the gusset that appears the most deteriorated, and appears to have failed first?
No, I believe it was gussett failure. What I have posted many times is that there were yearly inspections going back for years that pointed out large and serious cracks in them and serious corrosion in many places (the gussett that failed had corroded to the point where it was 1/2 of its original thickness). In addition, several additional lanes were added, which obviously increased stress in the structure. This was all ignored.
There was a plan to reinforce these places, and it actually went out for bid, but it was put on hold at the last minute. Instead, the bridge was resurfaced, which means that they planned to keep the bridge in service for at least another 15 years WITHOUT reinforcing it.
Who made those decisions? WHY did they make such stupid decisions? If they are still in a decision making position in the MNDOT, WHY are they still there? Those are the questions I would like answered. Instead, the whitewash blamed people who are dead or long retired for mistakes (which may or may not be true) and absolved the people who much more recently made much more serious mistakes.