Posted on 08/01/2007 4:28:27 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
Just turned on the news. 35W bridge collapsed in the Mississippi River. Cars, trucks, semis.....
Fires burning, tanker trucks, at least one school bus, more than ten cars......
Just now breaking.......
Thanks, think that I am ahead of you on answers.
I can’t say how many times I’ve been over this bridge...one just assumes that it’s simply a minor extension off of solid ground and that nothing will ever happen. Just goes to show that the unexpected can happen, well, any time.
So far, I feel that the officials have done an outstanding job of conducting the rescue/recovery. Kudos to all involved with their efforts in this time of tragedy.
My brother in law works in DT Mpls; he crossed the bridge on his way home tonight at 5:55 pm. Had he been ten minutes later, I wouldn’t be posting this comment; I’d be consoling a widowed sister.
Prayers to all affected by this terrible tragedy from a humble St Paul-ite.
You are absolutely correct. Though, at the time, they tried to say it was the modified design which was inherently weak and caused the collapse. Somehow they didn’t inform the general public that neither design was capable of supporting the load that the structure had to bear that night.
Guess they were trying to minimize lawsuits.
You mean like the jihadi in L.A. who went and shot up the El Al ticket counter at the airport?
On the contrary, I don't think they have ever LIED or tried to cover up a terrorist event. What they have done is made an important distinction between a delusional suicidal loner wannabe and an actionable conspiracy by an organized group with an identity and a political mission. That's not a lie.
Oh, right. I forgot. They did admit that it was indeed terrorism. After steadfastly denying it for about a year.
No. Not quite. It was not overloaded. And the design was good. It was the shortcuts taken by the contractor that built the walkway that caused the collapse. The contractor built the walkway at variance from the design but got an engineer to sign off on the amended design. That engineer never bothered to re-calculate the stresses on the material, and that engineer lost his license because of it. The walkway in the Hyatt was designed to handle any load... which could not have been exceeded by people standing or dancing shoulder to shoulder on the bridge.
But it wasn't built to the design. And the as-built never really got any "engineering" at all. That's why it fell.
Great news, Dave!
Apparently none. It has a PVC plumbed system for dispensing a deicing fluid(iceban) over the deck. I assume the fluid is an organic alcohol, or glycol type. THe only MSDS I found for it was ridiculous and said it was "a pure" liquid, with 80% water and the rest organic. I think MN and the other states use the generic. The IceBan co seems to be bankrupt.
Thank goodness he is okay! Sounds like there are quite a few fortunate stories with freepers here tonight.
So glad to hear your family is ok. Close call! Buckle your seat belt for many years to come on this one.
I believe there was only one school bus, and all passengers and the driver were evacuated from it. It was not in the water.
I am only stating what I know from watching this since it occurred, and the live broadcasts form KTSP.
I don’t think there were school buses in the river. They reported that 60 kids on the one bus on the bridge decking got out, and 12 of them went to the hospital.
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I think it was the Fire Chief on FOX/and others,that have been reporting that,,,50 cars/trucks/bus/etc. ,,,
I sure hope their wrong...
Check out the posts on HufPo. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-news/comments/2007/08/01/58806
WARNING: Takes awhile to load.
Just an example...
OK, QUICK MATH:
WHOM DID SENATOR NORM COLEMAN FUNNEL MORE MONEY TO:
A) HALLIBURTON
B) THE INTERSTATES IN HIS OWN STATE
YOU GUESS!
I agree. Based on some of the other pictures I have seen I would speculate that the problem started not over the pier closest to the water but over the much smaller pier set farther back from the water.
Why did both sections land flat with no twisting or turning?
Cantilever or pier/footing failure results in a straight vertical drop?
Must be very busy, it has been loading forever.
Thank goodness you have good news from your BIL!
Prayers for Minneapolis tonight.
This is about a tragedy in Minneapolis. Not about NYC or the space program. Sheesh!
They failed to comply with the Structural Engineer's design.
The rods used to hold up the suspended sections were attached in a manner that put the load on one threaded connection at the lowest level, instead of the three that the engineer required.
The threaded rod pulled through the nut and washer...
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