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The disaster was epic enough for NBC to invite veteran correspondent Robert Hager out of retirement to preview the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB will start with Army Corps of Engineers videotape of the actual collapse. All three networks shared that footage with us. Hager reminded us that it was metal fatigue that caused the failure of an Ohio River bridge in West Virginia in 1967 that killed 46 and of an interstate highway bridge in Connecticut in 1983.
CBS had Ben Tracy of its Minneapolis affiliate WCCO-TV recount the history of the I-35 span. He stated that the bridge was "state of the art" when it was built 40 years ago but "was designed without the extra support common to later designs, which meant if one component failed, the whole bridge was likely to fall." The federal Department of Transportation designated it as Structurally Deficient in 1990, a rating that applies to 13% of all bridges nationwide. ABC's Lisa Stark (subscription required) pointed out that maintenance work was under way on the bridge at the time it collapsed: four lanes were closed; the deck was being resurfaced; and joints were being repaired. "Engineers say 40 years and 141,000 vehicles a day take a toll."
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