State settles final case in 35W bridge collapse

Minnesota reached a settlement in its final case stemming from the 2007 I-35W bridge collapse that killed 13 people.

MPR reports the state recently received the final installment of $8.9 million total from California-based Jacobs Engineering Group.

In 1999, the firm acquired the corporate successor to Sverdrup & Parcel and Associates Inc. that was hired to design the bridge in 1962, the Star Tribune says.

Minnesota filed suits against several firms associated with the bridge's construction and maintenance to try to recover the $36.6 million paid to victims from a state compensation fund. The state has recovered less than half, according to MPR.

The Associated Press says URS Corp., the company that inspected the bridge before the collapse, settled lawsuits with survivors and victims' families for more than $52 million in addition to $5 million the company paid to the state.

As part of the settlement, the firm admits no wrongdoing.