Dive Brief:

• Officials in Washington County, AR, decided last week to tear down a partially constructed bridge after a county Road Department employee accused them in a lawsuit of cutting so many corners that the structure was unsafe.

• As part of the court case, the plaintiff showed a video featuring a former county assessor yanking pieces of rebar from drilled holes in the bridge that were supposed to be cemented into place and that were far too short to reach the bottom of the structure as intended.

• County officials said they do not know how much it will cost to tear down and replace the bridge.

Dive Insight:

The move to tear down rather than repair the bridge is unusual. Although some taxpayers have decried the extra expense caused by what the plaintiff said was pressure from bosses to save time and money by taking shortcuts that deviated from the bridge’s design, County Attorney Steve Zega said it’s the right move.

“We made a mistake and we are [confessing] to that mistake, owning up to that mistake and doing our best to correct that mistake,” Zega told a local TV station. “It will cost time, inconvenience, aggravation. … With a bridge, with anything that involves life safety, correct has to take priority over fast, and when we found out it wasn’t correct, we’re now endeavoring to fix it.”