Minn. court: Design firm not free of bridge claim

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

A California design firm will remain a defendant in a lawsuit brought by the state of Minnesota over the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed 13 people, an appellate court ruled Tuesday.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. had sought immunity from the state's claim, arguing in part that the state was beyond a time limit to bring such a claim. A three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected that argument and others, saying recent changes to state law makes such claims retroactive "indefinitely into the past."

The appellate judges did dismiss Jacobs from a claim filed by engineering firm URS Corp., ruling that Jacobs does not share liability with the San Francisco-based company. URS did consulting work on the bridge for the state of Minnesota.

Jacobs is the successor to the now-defunct company that designed the Interstate 35W bridge in the 1960s. It was a flaw in the design — gusset plates that were too thin — that was identified by the National Transportation Safety Board as a key cause of the failure.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_bridge_collapse_legal

[maxsolomon]

1. they don't have much money

they're an engineering firm. prob 2 mil in liability insurance and whatever personal fortunes the partners have. maybe 5 mil?

[qb]

2. The gusset plate explanation reminds me of the "lone gunman" conclusion (JFK).

Awfully conveeeeenient for the powers that be. What about the agency responsible for assuring the bridge's safety in the intervening 40 odd years?

[LaStrega]

3. Or lack thereof ...

many other MN bridges have, since the '07 I-35 bridge collapse, been deemed unsafe. The mind boggles (mine does, at least) when one considers the number of bridges nationwide that wouldn't pass the test. Similar to BP and the Gulf disaster, unfortunately something absolutely mind-blowingly bad has to happen before anyone seems to give a shit.

[Zoeisright]

4. Exactly. That firm is a total scapegoat.

I'll never forget Timmy the Tool's face after the bridge collapse. That little cross-eyed weasel was absolutely terrified because the collapse pointed fingers directly at his callous cutting of government programs, ESPECIALLY the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

But of course he managed to deflect blame away from himself and his evil cohort Carol Molnau and the gullible media went along with it. Pawlenty vetoed lots of DOT funding programs in his years waging war on the people of this state.

I hate his fucking guts.

[qb]

5. I hope the firm has the resources to put up a good defense, and at least make a case for

sharing the blame. The public deserves a more robust explanation of all of the failures (plural) that contributed to the disaster.