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Minn., victims still struggling after bridge fall
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THE INVESTIGATOR: From the beginning, the investigation into the collapse was been laced with politics.
"I'm not going to tell you that we've never seen a political investigation here before," said Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, "but this one did have a good deal of political interest and outcry. Why? This was a very highly visible event of incredible magnitude. Bridges don't fall in the United States _ it's rare that they do, very rare."
That leads to questions about the state of the nation's infrastructure, and whether the country is spending enough money on its upkeep, Rosenker said.
In January, Rosenker, a Republican nominated to the board by President Bush, rankled the Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, by pointing to design error as "the critical factor" in the bridge collapse. He said some gussets on the 40-year-old bridge _ the plates that helped connect its steel girders _ were too thin.
The state's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, viewed that as some vindication because the initial focus by critics had been on maintenance. But Oberstar said the board shouldn't make pronouncements on the cause until the investigation was complete.
The relationship between the two chairmen deteriorated further when the NTSB voted 3-2 not to hold an interim public hearing on the collapse _ with the board's three Republicans overruling its two Democrats. Oberstar told Rosenker at a congressional hearing that Minnesotans were becoming skeptical about the board's objectivity.
But Rosenker stood firm.
"We recognize that there's politics out there," he said. "But we do not engage in politics, we are not influenced by politics."
Rosenker said investigators are in the final phases of the probe. Besides the design error, the board has said the weight of construction materials on the bridge during resurfacing was a factor.
But the chairman said the board is also looking at other potential factors, such as corrosion, cracking, fatigue and poor maintenance. The board plans a public hearing on the final cause in 90 to 100 days, Rosenker said.
_By Frederic J. Frommer, Associated Press writer.
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