MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty promised Tuesday that the state will build a wider, safer bridge to replace the I-35W span that collapsed into the Mississippi River last week.

Even with victims still missing and debris clogging the Mississippi River, the state is rushing the plan to rebuild.

The new bridge, to be completed as early as fall 2008, would have 10 lanes, five in each direction, instead of the eight held by the old bridge. One of the extra lanes might be set aside for commuter buses.

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"We're focused first of all that the bridge gets rebuilt safely and well," Pawlenty said.

The state's first deadline is Wednesday in an aggressive schedule to open a new span by the end of next year. By morning, designers, builders and other firms that want a piece of the project must submit their track records to the state. By Friday, officials hope to narrow the list of potential bidders to three. Officials aim to issue contracts by Sept. 1, with construction starting three weeks later.

Work would continue, weather permitting, through the winter.

Pawlenty said the region's hosting of the 2008 National Republican Convention Sept. 1-4 is not driving the construction schedule. "We're not going to be driven by an artificial timeline driven by the Republican National Convention.

Pawlenty and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak acknowledged there will be time for limited public input into the bridge-building process. "We have to realize these are extraordinary circumstances," Rybak said. "But we need to make sure people have their say."

“Normally, a bridge of this magnitude would take three years,” Khaled Mahmoud, chairman of the Bridge Engineering Association in New York City, said in a phone interview earlier Tuesday. “This project, of course, is on a fast track. Everyone understands this is an emergency situation.”

Money shouldn’t be a huge stumbling block. President Bush signed a bill dedicating $250 million in federal funding for the project. The state hasn’t said for sure how much a new bridge would cost, but experts said the project probably would need about $300 million.

To get the job done quickly, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is planning a “design-build” project. That means teams of engineers and builders would work together, with the detailed design work going on even as construction crews get started on preparing the site and building piers.

“You don’t have to design everything first and then wait to get the contractors on board,” Mahmoud said. “The design-build process means you have the contractors on board from the get-go.”

The state intends to offer incentives to the builders to meet the ambitious deadlines. The transportation department says it wants a “team that has the experience and capabilities to meet an aggressive project delivery schedule.”

 Staff Writer

Robert Ingrassia