Repairs To Begin On Mpls. Pedestrian Bridge

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Repairs begin next week on the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge in south Minneapolis.

Support cables on the bike and pedestrian bridge broke loose in February.

Engineers plan to install one retrofitted diaphragm plate on the 5-year-old bridge. Officials will monitor the plate over the next month to see how it performs.

A pair of suspension cables broke loose when one of the plates fractured last winter. An engineering firm hired to find the cause of the fracture concluded that wind-induced cable vibrations caused cracking in the plates. The replacement plate is designed to withstand the fatigue that caused the cracking.

The bridge will close to bike and pedestrian traffic at 7 a.m. Sunday so the repairs can be made. The bridge is expected to be closed for about a week.

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