Posted on 08/01/2018 3:01:51 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
Wednesday marks 11 years since the Interstate 35W Bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River.
Thirteen people died and 145 were injured when the packed bridge went down during rush hour.
Julie Graves was on a school bus chaperoning a field trip when the bus collapsed. The bus had almost made it across the bridge into downtown when it went down.
"With the really talented staff I was with that day, they were able to evacuate all the kids off the bus and out the emergency exit and strangers were already coming to lift the kids down to safety off the bridge," Graves said.
All 63 kids, ranging in age from 5 to teenagers, made it off the bus safely.
Graves broke her back and shattered her ankle.
I remember breaking this story here.
I was amazed more people did not die.
A real miracle on that bridge, during rush hour.
A gal that I worked with at the time was one of the fatalities.
“Julie Graves was on a school bus chaperoning a field trip when the bus collapsed...”
Ooops, I meant the bridge...
Yeah, oops.
They still haven’t fixed the story.
I was as well. In Hollyweird everyone dies, except in the dramatic scene showing the "star" of the flick being rescued.
My daughter was at Target headquarters for training. her first of three trips. Welcome to Minneapolis.
As I remember, there was deck repair going on which would have restricted traffic flow on the bridge
I participated in the conversation here since (at the time) I was a bridge inspector. I thought that something funny was going on with the investigation and still do. They ended up blaming the original designers for the failure, people who were long retired or dead (and could not defend themselves).
The report said absolutely nothing about the changes that were approved by the MNDOR in the following years such as (1) adding two lanes (adding weight in rush hour), and (2) increasing the deck thickness by 2” (which adds up to a lot of extra weight) and any effect that would have had. They also long delayed maintenance needed to fix heavy corrosion (making the material thinner). Turns out that, along with the contractors heavy equipment above a relative weak point, it failed. But nobody at the MNDOR was to blame for anything according to the report.
But the government in charge of the Sahara Desert and soon there will be a shortage of sand.
Put the government in charge of bridge maintenance and soon there’s going to be a shortage of bridges.
I remember your expert insights on the original thread.
Thanks again and thanks for stopping by again.
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