Four DFL lawmakers stood before the press and proposed a 10-point package of bridge safety reforms that they say is a first step toward a bill they will introduce during next year’s legislative session.
The package has been in the works for weeks, and is in direct response to reports and recommendations contained in two independent studies on bridge safety that have been concluded in response to the I-35 bridge collapse last August — by the Office of the Legislative Auditor in February and the law firm of Gray Plant Mooty in May. But the harrowing incident over the weekend — in which a six-foot-by-nine-foot slab of concrete tore away from the underside of Maryland Avenue and fell into Highway 35E, damaging two vehicles and snarling traffic for eight hours — added urgency and gravitas to the legislators’ recommendations.
Among the more prominent recommendations set forth on Monday was the necessity for bridges to be inspected at least every 12 months, and the setting and followup of specific performance targets at MnDOT, including the stipulation that an analysis be done by the agency whenever any of their goals or forecasts aren’t met. The package also recommends that the state salary cap be lifted for MnDOT engineers in order to assist with recruitment and retain quality personnel, and that either the commissioner or deputy commissioner of MnDOT be a professional engineer.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment