Minn. Closes Bridge Near Site of I-35W Collapse

State officials closed a bridge over the Mississippi River northwest of the Twin Cities area in Minnesota because of problems found in the same kind of steel plates that may have played a key role in last summer’s bridge collapse in Minneapolis, the Associated Press reported Friday.

Inspectors found defects in four gusset plates, which help connect the girders of the Highway 23 bridge at St. Cloud, Minn., AP said. Transportation officials said a visual inspection showed the plates had by about a quarter-inch.
 
One official told AP the Aug. 1 collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge, which killed 13 people, entered into Thursday’s decision to close the bridge, also known as the DeSoto bridge.

Acting Transportation Commissioner Bob McFarlin said it was not clear how the 51-year-old bridge would be repaired, AP reported. It had been scheduled for replacement in 2015, and transportation officials had been trying to speed up replacement even before the closure, AP said.

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