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| US bridge 'design issue' detected | US bridge 'design issue' detected |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| US investigators have found a possible "design issue" in the bridge that gave way over the Mississippi river. | US investigators have found a possible "design issue" in the bridge that gave way over the Mississippi river. |
| The parts causing concern are the steel plates that connect girders. | The parts causing concern are the steel plates that connect girders. |
| Federal officials have urged states to carefully consider the additional weight placed on bridges during construction or repair projects. | Federal officials have urged states to carefully consider the additional weight placed on bridges during construction or repair projects. |
| Crews were working on the Minneapolis bridge when it collapsed last week, killing five people. Divers are still searching for eight other people. | Crews were working on the Minneapolis bridge when it collapsed last week, killing five people. Divers are still searching for eight other people. |
| See graphic of the bridge collapse | See graphic of the bridge collapse |
| The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), whose full investigation is set to take months, has not yet indicated any definitive cause for the collapse of the eight-lane I-35W highway bridge. | |
| Loads and stresses on the gusset plates are being investigated | |
| But safety officials have found a "design issue" with what are known as gusset plates - the steel connectors that tie together the angled steel beams of the bridge's frame - at particular locations on the bridge. | |
| Investigators are trying to verify the loads and stresses on the gusset plates and the material used to make them. | Investigators are trying to verify the loads and stresses on the gusset plates and the material used to make them. |
| One possible stress may have been the weight of construction equipment and materials on the bridge at the time of the collapse, the NTSB reported on its website. | One possible stress may have been the weight of construction equipment and materials on the bridge at the time of the collapse, the NTSB reported on its website. |
| In response, federal authorities called on all states to take extra care with how much weight is placed on bridges of any design when construction crews are sent to work on them. | In response, federal authorities called on all states to take extra care with how much weight is placed on bridges of any design when construction crews are sent to work on them. |
| More than a week on from the collapse, divers are continuing to cut through the tangled debris of the bridge in the search for bodies. | More than a week on from the collapse, divers are continuing to cut through the tangled debris of the bridge in the search for bodies. |
| Teams of Navy and FBI divers, who were brought in earlier this week, are trying to go deeper than local divers were able to. | Teams of Navy and FBI divers, who were brought in earlier this week, are trying to go deeper than local divers were able to. |
| I-35W BRIDGE 9340 Eight-lane, steel-arch bridgeBuilt in 1967Used by 140,000 cars a day US seeks answers What caused collapse? In pictures: Bridge collapse | |
| But the search amid the huge chunks of concrete and mangled wreckage submerged in the Mississippi's swift and murky waters has proved difficult. | But the search amid the huge chunks of concrete and mangled wreckage submerged in the Mississippi's swift and murky waters has proved difficult. |
| Divers were carrying out "a very meticulous hand-over-hand search of the scene", their spokesman Dave Nagle said. | Divers were carrying out "a very meticulous hand-over-hand search of the scene", their spokesman Dave Nagle said. |
| It will now be at least a week before cranes start regularly hauling out large pieces of debris, police officials have said. | It will now be at least a week before cranes start regularly hauling out large pieces of debris, police officials have said. |
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