Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. failed to convince a Minnesota state judge to throw out the claims against the company related to the collapse of the Interstate-35W bridge in Minneapolis two years ago. The company had argued that it didn’t owe Minnesota any of the $37 million the state paid out to victims because the design work performed on the bridge was done more than 40 years earlier. A state court judge in Hennepin County on Aug. 28 ruled that the state’s lawsuit against Jacobs, one of several engineers and contractors targeted, could continue.

As the bridge’s principal designer, Jacobs is a focus of the legal claims as well as being one of the biggest companies involved. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has filed several lawsuits seeking to recover money for negligence and breach of contract against Jacobs, URS Corp., which inspected the bridge a few years prior to the collapse, and Progressive Contractors Inc., which was resurfacing the bridge when it collapsed.

雅各布斯（Jacobs）购买了桥梁的设计师时，似乎对崩溃承担了责任。明尼苏达州在1962年雇用了Sverdrup＆Associates Inc.设计桥梁。雅各布斯（Jacobs）于1999年获得了Sverdrup的继任者。

雅各布斯的律师依靠明尼苏达州法律的一部分，该法律表明，在工作完成后的10年内，必须在10年内提出任何损害赔偿的要求。明尼苏达州的法律还禁止与“受伤后两年多”或涉及“捐款或赔偿”的案件，在建设完成后10年以上。

According to media accounts, Jacobs’ attorney, Kirk Kolbo, also claimed the state lacked justification to recover the funds from Jacobs. “The state has no right of recovery,” he was quoted as arguing before the court. “It made payments voluntarily.”

Not long after the collapse, legal experts predicted the 10-year time limit on lawsuits related to property improvements could shield the state or private companies involved from big payouts.

District Court Judge Deborah Hedlund disagreed that time had run out for a claim against the designers. An amendment to the state law in 2007 stated that claims must be brought within two years, whether they start “before or after the [10]-year repose period for direct claims.” The defendants, the state of Minnesota, “initiated their claims within two years” of the lawsuits against it by the victims.

该案的早期动议是初步的小规模冲突，这看起来可能成为悲剧的长期法律。自从这座桥突然倒入密西西比河以来的两年中，炸死了13人，炸伤145人，原告针对涉及桥梁设计和维护的公司提起了数十起诉讼。进步承包商的律师凯尔·哈特（Kyle Hart）说，发现诉讼当事方从相关人员那里取消证词的过程才开始。

Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board determined the bridge collapsed due to underdesigned gusset plates. All 121 pending lawsuits related to the tragedy will be heard by Hedlund, and she plans to begin trying them in March 2011.