Sabo bridge closure costs more than $1.1M

Officials with the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County and the Met Council told Minnesota Public Radio the cost to shutdown and repair the pedestrian and bicycle crossing topped $1.1 million. The Sabo Bridge was closed for three-and-a-half months after two of the bridge's supporting cables came loose in February. A report released in June blames the failure on wind vibrations.

Author:: BMTN Staff
Publish date:: Jul 8, 2012

Officials with the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County and the Met Council told Minnesota Public Radio the cost to shutdown and repair the pedestrian and bicycle crossing topped $1.1 million. The Sabo Bridge was closed for three-and-a-half months after two of the bridge's supporting cables came loose in February. A report released in June blames the failure on wind vibrations.

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Hennepin County and the city of Minneapolis released this press release Friday. In short, a preliminary report suggests that wind is to blame for the failure of two cable connections on the Martin Olav Sabo pedestrian and biking bridge in Minneapolis. The bridge was closed from Feb. 19 to June 1.

The Sabo bridge, which was closed after a pair of support cables broke in February, is reopening Friday afternoon to foot and bike traffic. Structural support was added underneath the bridge deck. Minneapolis is awaiting a report on what caused the cables to break loose.

Workers installed a retrofitted diaphragm plate on the Sabo pedestrian bridge this week and the bridge reopened Friday morning, at least until more repairs are done to finish the project. Engineers will then plan and schedule repairs to the rest of the bridge’s diaphragm plates later this year.

Part of Hiawatha Avenue was closed Monday morning after a cable snapped on a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that spans the road.

Cable diaphragm plates that cracked on the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge, leading officials to shut down the span for months this year, had "welded details that offer poor fatigue resistance," according to a 140-page report released Friday by the city of Minneapolis.

Crews are still working to stabilize the bike and pedestrian bridge and investigators are studying why a cable that supported the deck broke in February. But Minneapolis would like to reopen the span and hopes to find out soon if that would be safe.

Officials say that Minneapolis is striving to reopen the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge by June 4, the Star Tribune reports. The bicycle and pedestrian span over Hiawatha Avenue has been closed for three months, after the fracture of a steel anchor led the bridge’s tallest set of cables to fall from the mast on Feb 19.

A Minneapolis official says the failure on the Martin Sabo pedestrian bridge happened with what's known as a diaphragm plate. Deputy Public Works Director Heidi Hamilton tells the city council more of the plates are also cracked. She says it may take months to repair, but she's confident there is a retrofit solution.