Minnesota Settles with Victims of 2007 Bridge Collapse

Monday April 20, 2009

The state of Minnesota recently paid out a total of $36.6 million for the wrongful death and personal injury suits brought by the victims of the bridge collapse in 2007. Each individual settlement ranged in price- from $4,500 to over $2.2 million. The lawsuits were not filed, because the state agreed to settle with the survivors out of the courtroom.

The state was considered responsible for the damages; because the National Transportation Safety Board found that the collapse of the Interstate 35W Bridge, which fell on August 1, 2007, occurred because the structure was built with substandard building materials. A steel gusset plate was only half as thick as it should have been. It was undetected because the bridge was constructed more than 40 years ago.

In the collapse, 13 people were killed. However, 179 claims by those who were injured or who lost loved ones in the accident brought the total up to $36.6 million. Most of the personal injury lawyers who were representing the victims and their families recommended that they take the settlements, because the liability of the state capped out at only $1 million for all of the victims, according to the legislation at the time of the collapse.