Who's to Blame?

Related Content

• Tim Pawlenty's fascinating official portrait unveiled [IMAGES]
  October 11, 2011
• Mitt Romney is Tim Pawlenty's sugar daddy
  April 12, 2012
• New poll: Bachmann, Pawlenty unpopular with Minnesotans
  January 24, 2012
• Arne Carlson on GOP U.S. House candidate Allen Quist: He's "really bizarre"
  May 21, 2012
• Romney, along with possible running mate T-Paw, will be in Eagan tomorrow
  January 31, 2012

More About

• Tim Pawlenty
• Marty Seifert
• David Strom
• Transportation
• Tax Policy

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

The investigation into what went wrong and how to prevent such tragedies in the future is a murkier business. The NTSB immediately had investigators on the ground poking through the wreckage. Eventually, the bridge will be reconstructed, piece by piece, much like a crashed airplane, in an effort to discover which part failed first.

But whatever combination of factors are ultimately deemed to have resulted in the dramatic collapse of the bridge, it may turn out that the biggest problem had nothing to do with concrete or steel but rather something much more human: a failure of planning and public policy.