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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...

Ron Tutor, chief executive of Tutor Perini, said the redesign was not his firm’s fault... “We designed it and they approved it and then they changed their minds,” Tutor said. “They had a change of heart.” At least three other bullet train bridges in the Central Valley used the same design as the Avenue 8 bridge and are now being redesigned, according to a January rail authority status update, raising questions about whether potentially more costly designs will be required in the future. The previous design for Avenue 8, using what is known as mechanically stabilized earth walls, is generally...

Ukraine, which along with most of the international community has not recognized Russia's annexation of Crimea, condemns the projectKERCH – President Vladimir Putin drew condemnation from the US, Europe and Ukraine on Tuesday, May 15, after he opened a new bridge linking mainland Russia and Moscow-annexed Crimea by driving a truck across it to the peninsula. Putin dressed in jeans and a casual jacket was shown by Russian state television behind the wheel of a construction truck to drive 19 kilometers (12 miles) across the bridge, which links the Taman peninsula in southern Russia to Ukraine's Crimea, which was annexed...

MIAMI - No one seemed to notice when a large white crane that had been working at the doomed Florida International University bridge lurched away down Tamiami Trail shortly after the span collapsed. There was a disaster to respond to: Mountains of concrete. Horribly mangled cars. Dead and injured people. It wasn't until some time later that authorities began wondering what happened to the crane and its operator, a close eyewitness who might help the investigation into the collapse. But he, and the crane, were gone. "He drove away in the crane and nobody stopped him,"

This thread is a friendly collaborative place for FReepers to analyze information and share opinons. FReepers have a wide variety of reasons for investigating Q Anon content; this is not the appropriate place to criticize or badger those who choose to use some of their time in this manner. I plan to post one thread at a time and ping new drops posted to it. When I post each (new) thread, the prior thread is retired and all new posts occur on the newest thread. If you are new to Q Anon, the three links below provide overviews to...

Are there any Freepers who participate in the great American game of Bridge? I'm taking lessons, and it appears it's mostly retirees who play. My parents played their whole lives, and it used to be a very popular game for people from teens to the elderly. I'm just wondering whether the game's dying out along with its increasingly gray-haired adherents.

An engineer left a voicemail two days before a catastrophic bridge failure in Miami to say some cracking had been found at one end of the concrete span, but the voicemail wasn't picked up until after the collapse, Florida Department of Transportation officials said Friday. The voicemail left on a landline wasn't heard by a state DOT employee until Friday because the employee was out of the office on an assignment, the agency said in an email. In a transcript released Friday night, Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group says the cracking would need repairs "but from a safety perspective...

FULL TITLE: 'Up to 10' people crushed to death as 950-ton pedestrian bridge collapses on top of cars and pedestrians on Florida college campus - just five days after it was installed Up to 10 people have been killed when a newly installed pedestrian bridge spanning several lanes of traffic collapsed at Florida International University on Thursday. US Senator Bill Nelson of Florida told local TV station CBS Miami that between six to 10 people died. The 174-foot 'instant bridge' hailed as a feat of engineering and safety, was installed Saturday morning but was not due to open to the...

MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Florida International University’s massive new pedestrian bridge collapsed Thursday afternoon in West Miami-Dade. The bridge, located at 109th Ave and 8th Street, collapsed on a number of cars. There are reports of numerous people injured in the collapse. At least one person was taken as a trauma alert to the hospital, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. The 950-ton bridge went up on Saturday. It was then lowered into its final position, just west of 109th Avenue that day. The main span was built next to Southwest 8th Street.

HUMBLE, TX — The traffic in Kingwood is already an issue, but it's about to become more frustrating as crew prepare to shut down parts of the Interstate 69 bridge that spans the San Jacinto River, just south of Kingwood. The Texas Department of Transportation announced this week that they will close the southbound lanes of I-69 over the river at the end of this month to repair damages caused during flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The construction is expected to continue through the start of summer, and the start of the 2018 hurricane season, which begins in June. Humble, Kingwood...

At least 10 construction workers died and several were injured after a partially constructed bridge in central Colombia collapsed on Monday. The laborers were working on the bridge's drainage system when the incident occurred. The victims fell 280 meters (920 feet) into a ravine in Chirajara about 95 kilometers (60 miles) from the Colombian capital of Bogota.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Lawmakers can expect face-to-face meetings with Girl Scouts from across Georgia next month at the state Capitol, where the young scouts plan on treating legislators to a milk-and-cookie reception. These girls bearing gifts of Thin Mints and Samoas will also come packing an agenda. They want to see Savannah's towering suspension bridge renamed in honor of Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts in the coastal Georgia city more than a century ago. The Girl Scouts saw an opening last fall when Savannah's city council formally asked state lawmakers during their 2018 session to strip the...

LAKE WORTH A Bobcat construction vehicle hauled by a large tow truck hit the 10th Avenue North overpass on Interstate 95 on Wednesday morning. The crash damaged the bridge, snarled northbound traffic on the highway for hours and shut down all eastbound lanes on 10th Avenue North, authorities said. Barbara Keller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation, said a combination front-end loader and backhoe struck a beam on the overpass. The backhoe was extended upward and that’s what damaged the concrete beam, she said. No other vehicles were involved and there were no injuries in the crash, according...

Shelton police say a man was seriously injured after being thrown off the Derby Shelton Bridge when he tried to intervene during an argument between a couple. According to police, Rottjer and Hannum were having an argument while walking over the bridge. The victim, identified as a 30-year-old man from Monroe, got involved to ask of Hannum was ok, then tried to walk away. Police claim that’s when Rottjer and his friend, Dorso, got into a physical fight with the victim. Investigators said that Rottjer intentionally threw the victim over the bridge during the fight. Rottjer, Dorso and Hannum then...

BROWN COUNTY (WLUK) -- If you experience stop-and-go traffic heading to work or backups on your way home, you’re not the only one frustrated. Every community experiences traffic delays. Transportation planners design new roads to ease the congestion. But FOX 11 Investigates found that in Brown County, those planning the roads are frustrated too. Ads by ZINC Highway 172 in Brown County carries a heavy load of cars and trucks. During peak traffic hours, motorists are trying to cross the Fox River. A little over two miles to the south, the Claude Allouez Bridge in De Pere can be even...

More than 100 concerned residents peppered state and local officials Monday for information about the new Interstate 74 Bridge. Moline Mayor Stephanie Acri hosted the event, part of a series of casual meetings to share ideas and air concerns about the city. Experts on site included Ryan Hippen, construction field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation, and Danielle Mulholland, I-74 project engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation. "I don't get tired of talking about this improvement," Hippen said. The basket handle true arch twin bridge is to cost an estimated $1.2 billion, and open late in 2020 after...

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – With a 1929 Model A Ford Phaeton making the final 3.1-mile (4.99-kilometer) journey across the Hudson River, the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York City's northern suburbs has officially closed. Much of the fanfare that accompanied the opening of an adjacent $3.9 billion twin-span named in honor of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo in August was missing Friday night when the Tappan Zee saw its final crossing, according to The Journal News . Seth Kestenbaum was the last driver to cross the 61-year-old bridge around 10 p.m. in the vintage Ford. "If you're first across the...

HOW OTHERS SEE IT   When South Sudan declared independence, its tattered infrastructure presented enormous challenges, but also a strange sense of possibility. Now, renewed fighting has stalled attempts at nation-building – in a physical sense as well as a political one. JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN—On its face, the plan was simple. South Sudan’s largest city needed a new bridge, and a Japanese aid agency was going to build one. It was 2012 when the announcement was made, and the capital of the world’s newest country was growing up and out hungrily: a sudden glut of new huts, new houses, and...

With public funding options limited, Alabama transportation officials are turning to the private sector for advice and creative solutions in paying for the massive Interstate 10 overhaul in coastal Alabama.John Cooper, director of the Alabama Department of Transportation, said Monday that state officials were interested in learning more about project plans from approximately 400 private sector attendees during the two-day Industry Forum at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center.That includes financing, which remains the biggest hurdle toward moving the project forward in the next year. At this point, no options have been settled including whether to institute tolls to...

A toll feasibility study is up in the air for the future Interstate 49 bridge over the Arkansas River with extensions connecting Arkansas 22 to Interstate 40 at Alma. Following approval last year of $10 million in I-49 project development, the Arkansas Department of Transportation solicited bids for a consultant to conduct an I-49 toll feasibility study. They are currently in a negotiation phase, according to ArDOT District 4 Construction Engineer Jason Hughey. ArDOT selected HNTB on June 23 to conduct the “I-49 Alternative Delivery Study.” The negotiations are over the scope of work and process has been “fluid,” ArDOT...