In January 1935, the City Commissioners submitted a city budget to Congress requesting $15,000 to study a new bridge. The budget won the approval of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration and the Bureau of the Budget. A handful of representatives in the House stripped the item from the city budget. Although the item was restored in the Senate, it was removed again in the conference committee. The bridge suffered partial collapse in the early summer of 1935 when a portion of the wooden timbers supporting the road deck collapsed, requiring replacement. The damage was not extensive, however, and the bridge was still considered to be structurally sound. However, the Corps of Engineers limited the weight of vehicles permitted to cross the structure. But in August 1935 the Southeast Businessmen's Association (a group of east-of-the-river business owners) threatened to petition the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration for a new bridge. If that failed, they warned they would seek a redress of grievances in federal court.