UNDER PRESSURE

摘要

The tragic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis on Aug. 1, 2007-which claimed 13 lives and left 145 injured-provided a stark reminder of the importance of infrastructure in our everyday lives. Remarkably, a replacement structure was designed, built, and opened to traffic in little more than a year. And rather than just a quick utilitarian solution, the new bridge incorporates sophisticated technologies not just for structural integrity, but in its lighting design as well.rnTime was of the essence to rebuild the original bridge, an eight-lane steel truss design that opened to traffic in 1967, because this crossing over the Mississippi River is Minnesota's fifth-busiest bridge, typically carrying 140,000 vehicles each day. Tallahassee, Fla.-based FiggrnEngineering Group was part of the team selected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) following the selection process for a design-build solution.