Since a Minneapolis bridge collapsed in August 2007, killing thirteen, there has been a bitter struggle between federal authorities and local politicians over what caused the collapse. The National Transportation Safety Board has said it was a flaw in the structure’s 1960’s-era design, while Minnesota state and national legislators argue the real culprit was insufficient funding for inspections and repairs.

The New York Times Matthew W. Wald reports on the latest – a national safety board study finding that 99 tons of sand put on the roadway directly over the bridge caused the structure’s collapse. The news, as such, is not controversial. But the board may have raised some eyebrows in the Twin Cities for declining to hold a hearing on the matter.  Read Wald here.   MB

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