Pigeon droppings sped up bridge rust
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Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed interstate bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis also faced a less obvious enemy: pigeons.
Experts say the corrosive guano deposited all over the Interstate 35W span’s frame caused the steel beams to rust faster.
Although investigators have yet to identify the cause of the bridge’s Aug. 1 collapse, which killed at least 13 people and injured about 100, the pigeon problem is one of many factors that may have played a role.
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