this on SPIF first!
http://www.twincities.com/ci_6511460
Key bridge in light-rail plan can't hold trains
Reinforcing Washington Ave. span's deck, girders could raise Central
Corridor project's cost
BY JASON HOPPIN
Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 07/31/2007 11:11:08 PM CDT
The $932 million price tag for the Central Corridor project may soon get
bigger.
In the first major wrinkle to emerge during preliminary engineering for
the planned 11-mile light-rail line connecting St. Paul and Minneapolis,
engineers have concluded that the Washington Avenue Bridge - the point
where the line crosses the Mississippi River - cannot carry the weight of
light-rail cars and needs major upgrades
In a draft report released to the Pioneer Press under the Minnesota Data
Practices Act, the consulting firm URS says the bridge's deck - the
surface over which cars pass - needs to be strengthened to support several
107,000-pound light-rail cars passing over it at once.
"It is an issue that is very addressable and resolvable," said
Metropolitan Council project director Mark Fuhrmann.
The Met Council also is studying the steel girders that are the backbone
of the bridge. The girders do not meet current building codes, and URS is
generating computer models to see how well they would withstand added
weight. The girders might need to be augmented, or perhaps replaced.