URS Corp. won’t pay punitive damages for I35W collapse

San Francisco-based engineering company URS Corp. says they shouldn’t have to pay punitive damages due to the design flaw that led to a bridge collapse on Minneapolis’ Interstate 35W in 2007. The collapse killed 13 people and injured 145.

Attorneys representing 34 victims and the surviving family members are seeking punitive damages from the Corporation and they believe the company deliberately disregarded the bridge’s safety; the bridge fell into the Mississippi River during an evening rush hour on Aug, 1, 2007. The National Transportation Safety Board found a design flaw that allowed for the gusset plates on the more than 40-year-old bridge to be half as thick as necessary. Heavy construction materials on the bridge also added to the collapse as they stressed the undersized plates.

News reports say that URS released a statement last Thursday saying it was never asked to verify the bridge’s original design and didn’t know it was defective. URS also did not know that construction materials would be stored on the bridge.

Attorneys representing URS wrote in court documents filed last week that the company could not deliberately disregard any problem of which it was unaware.
Some victims are suing URS for actual damages and Minnesota law says a petition for punitive damages must be made later. Victims are also saying that URS failed to follow guidelines for bridges set by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

"Punitive damages are not awarded because a defendant was unaware of a danger; they are awarded in situations where a defendant knows that some danger is highly probable and deliberately disregards that knowledge. URS is not that defendant," attorneys for URS wrote in court documents. URS and the State of Minnesota reached a $5 million settlement in March, with neither side admitting liability or fault for the collapse.

Photo courtesy Michael Rubin