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.......
My Firefox No Script add-on is blocking scripts from google-analytics.com and from freerepublic.com as I type.
“””Looks real?”””
It’s real - security camera video.
Unreal!
Seems to originate from where the bridge connects to the bluff area.
At first glance...looks like dust cloud.
I thought that was dust. There would be a lot of dust if they were resurfacing the bridge.
Snippets from local media:
New at 11:27 p.m.:Road crews had been working on the 40-year-old bridge's deck, joints, guardrails and lights this week. "None of it would be related to the structure," said Bob McFarlin, assistant to Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau.
New at 11:05 p.m.:State Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Steve Murphy said the condition of bridges in Minnesota generally has been a topic of concern, but he couldn't recall the Interstate 35W Mississippi River bridge coming up during those discussions.
"I know the work that many of the bridge inspectors do for the state of Minnesota, and we do really good work," said Murphy, DFL-Red Wing. "If they said that that bridge in 2006 was in good shape, I believe it was in good shape. What happened today, it's probably going to be weeks or months before we know."
New at 10:20 p.m.:Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the bridge was inspected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2005 and 2006 and that no structural problems were noted. "There were some minor things that needed attention," he said.
Mpls. Police Chief Tim Dolan: Do not believe it was an act of terrorism and they interviewing everyone who was near the bridge or on the bridge.
Pawlenty said investigations will continue and that in all likely hood it was structural failure
[The above gets the award for brazen coyness, particularly coming on the heels of the one below.]
New at 9:16 p.m.:Pawlenty said no structural problems identified in bridge in 2004-2006 (from mndot inspection)
New at 9:05 p.m.:"It sounded like a bomb and we ducked," said one man who works at a gas station near the collapse.
New at 8:42 p.m.:Concrete work was being done on the bridge but nothing that would distrupt the structure, according to [civil engineer Richard] Stehly.
[This next one gets the Early Bird Award for prompt delivery of the rote party line.]New at 7:57 p.m.:
Paul McCabe, a spokesman with the FBI in Minneapolis, said agents responded to the bridge and would conduct any necessary investigations.
"Although it is much too early to make any determination of the cause, we have no reason at this time to believe there is any nexus to terrorism," he said.
...
According to a structural engineer who spoke with WCCO-TV's Don Shelby, it doesn't appear to be a concrete failure but that the steel failed.[The second 7:57 snippet above also gets an Early Bird Award, as well as a Meritorious Conduct Notation for coming up with a precise explanation while "The Experts" were claiming various contradictory causes, or -- in most cases -- a total *lack* of understanding of cause (other than of course it "Not Being Terrorism"(tm).]
The final 7:57 sub-snippet:A maintenance project began about nine months ago repairing potholes and other concrete on the bridge. According to a spokesperson from the Mn-DOT, there was no work on the actual structure under the bridge.
Bridge was rated ‘structurally deficient’ in 2005
http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1338970.html
The highway bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River on Wednesday was rated as “structurally deficient” two years ago and possibly in need of replacement.
By Dan Browning, Star Tribune
The highway bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River on Wednesday was rated as “structurally deficient” two years ago and possibly in need of replacement.
That rating was contained in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory database.
Aamodt said the department plans its bridge repairs using information from the Bridge Inventory database.
Many other bridges nationwide carry the same designation that the I-35W bridge received, Aamodt said.
You have to wonder if any of those high rise apartment buildings have been compromised - that was one huge impact.
I have bridge-phobia especially any span over water! This is not helpful.
“””Different highway 35””
Right - but so many weird coincidences;)
...are there laws in place that insulate the government from law suits if it is proven the bridge was structurally deficient?
Not fun....
Now that's odd, since the butt of the jokes is the group who insists they know enough -- within minutes of an event -- to declare total ignorance of any actual cause, but ABSOLUTE confidence in a single factor that they proclaim to NOT be the cause. Funnier yet, since that "it's not" factor is something that the government has repeatedly warned us to be on the lookout for, telling us that it is a prime terrorist target.
Mwa: The instantaneous "we have no idea of the cause, but don't worry, there is no sign of terrorism" mantra has become so predictable that people inevitably crack jokes about it.Yew: Not me... I crack jokes about the ones who think they know enough to crack jokes.
But hey, don't take MY word for it. Just amble on over to your nearest major bridge with a camera and tripod, and see how long it takes for the squad cars to roll up.
I just got an e-mail from a soldier I know in Afghanistan, asking me was I alright........
Wow.....
Ever gone over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge outside Annapolis Maryland? It’s almost 4 miles long! Not fun for many folks with phobias.
You do realize that out of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of bridges in this country that only a handful have ever failed like this?
You should be more afraid of getting struck by lightning. I'm not making fun of you, I'm just saying look at the odds.
I'm with you Sod! Can't stand bridges....especially over water. I white knuckle the steering wheel all the way across.
Very hard to sue or even fire an individual government employee but cities are sued/settle millions every year.
Most cities are “self insured”, which means that the cities/government carries -no- insurance and the taxpayer pays when it is all over.
Milwaukee and Wisconsin has paid millions this year due to police beatings, police shootings and false convictions.
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