Hello Minneapolis...everyone alright?

Ann McRae · August 2, 2007

That Bridge collapse looks pretty horrible.

Hope you are all okay.

ann

Awais Yaqub · August 2, 2007

i saw it on tv i hope everyone is fine

David_S85 · August 2, 2007

What a horrible accident. :cry

If you have Google Earth, I believe this is the bridge site:

44º48'00.93" N
93º17'23.68" W

EDIT: The above are wrong, anyone know the correct coordinates?

DJ-S1 · August 2, 2007

Molsondog wrote:

The spirit of Minnesotans came into play again as countless locals pitched in well into the night to assist first responders.

We all hold hope for the missing and pray for the families of the victims.

Well said. What a terrible accident.

Allen · August 2, 2007

David_S85 wrote:

What a horrible accident. :cry

If you have Google Earth, I believe this is the bridge site:

44º48'00.93" N
93º17'23.68" W

EDIT: The above are wrong, anyone know the correct coordinates?

Try this

44.978941°
-93.245009°
or
44°58'44.19"N
93°14'42.00"W

David_S85 · August 2, 2007

That's it. Thanks, Allen

ShepsMom · August 2, 2007

I feel so bad for all the victims and their families, i absolutely HATE bridges!! I'm dreading going over Skyway here in St. Pete, especially after the old one collapsed on May 9th 1980. It collapsed under different circumstances. A ship hit the bridge, knocking a 1,200 foot span of the bridge into Tampa Bay. Thirty-five people plunged 150 feet to their deaths. Most of them were on board a Greyhound bus bound for Miami. Just horrible :cry And i wont even go on how many people commit suicide by jumping from Skyway.

Stormdancing · August 2, 2007

I watched the videos on the morning news. How horrible. That school bus full of kids just made my heart sink. Just think how scared those kids were. I'm glad they are all ok. I'm saying prayers for all that were there.

You just don't want to think that this "just happened". You tend to want to believe that it was an intentional act caused by some demented soul or an accident. Then you can place the blame somewhere. It's just so hard to believe it "just happened".:cry

grimace · August 2, 2007

Thanks Ann!! It's quite hectic here in the Twin Cities. I was on the bridge about 35 to 40 minutes prior to it going down.

The bridge is as important to our transportation system as the Bay Bridge is to San Francisco.

Early estimates say it will take at least 2 years to get a new bridge in place.

bham · August 2, 2007

Did you see the Video footage of the actual collapse from the stationary camera that was fixed on the bridge. It just failed and dropped straight down. Actually because of the drop straight down and that traffic was stop and go, less people were injured than otherwise could have been the case.

My prayers are with the people of the Twin cities tonight.

davev · August 2, 2007

What, did something happen around here?

Kidding of course. This has been on the local news day and night.
I don't know who's going to lose their jobs over this, but I'll bet it will be a few of them.

I've lived here all my life, I don't think I've ever used that bridge.
But then again, I get lost every time I go to Minneapolis.

All we can do now is wait for the names of the unlucky folks that took that route and didn't make it home.

Where the "35W" is over the water is where it went down.

claudermilk · August 3, 2007

Stormdancing wrote:

You just don't want to think that this "just happened". You tend to want to believe that it was an intentional act caused by some demented soul or an accident. Then you can place the blame somewhere. It's just so hard to believe it "just happened".:cry

It's definitely a very sad thing to see. Sometimes things do "just happen" & from what I'm reading so far this is one of those times. Don't get too hung up on placing blame somewhere--a little soapbox here, IMHO society has spent too much time finger pointing rather than just dealing with things lately.

One interesting side effect is apparently CalTrans here in SoCal is going to start looking real hard at all our bridges now.

Frog Lady · August 3, 2007

Firstly, my heart goes out to the families of victims and to the survivors.

I had heard that several of the bridges (including this one) in the area were on "watch" lists, being checked every year instead of every other year. Now that didn't mean they were in imminant danger of collapse (or they wouldn't just be being watched), but given general reaction to this news, we'll see what happens with the rest of the aging bridge system there.

But, in general, probably a good many of the nations bridges are in the same relative age group, i.e., showing signs of age, but still functional. But after an accident like this, there tends to be a strong call to action (i.e., see Claudermilk's post above). I don't know how state or the fed gov't can afford to really move into the do something now stage about all these old bridges currently on "watch" lists. Or, even if they could, just the huge amount of time and man-power necessary. It'll be interesting to see what happens around the nation as a result of this tragedy.

C.

m_granite · August 3, 2007

The ignorance of bridge quality. :bs

David_S85 · August 5, 2007

I found this bridge collapse gallery at another forum.

W.W. Webster · August 5, 2007

davev wrote:

Where the "35W" is over the water is where it went down.

Is that a weir that appears to be completely blocking the river, just upstream? What's the purpose of that?

W.W. Webster · August 6, 2007

Molsondog wrote:

Locks and Dams are frequent through the rapids that define this stretch of the river....

Thanks for the information.

claudermilk · August 6, 2007

Frog Lady wrote:

But, in general, probably a good many of the nations bridges are in the same relative age group, i.e., showing signs of age, but still functional. But after an accident like this, there tends to be a strong call to action (i.e., see Claudermilk's post above). I don't know how state or the fed gov't can afford to really move into the do something now stage about all these old bridges currently on "watch" lists. Or, even if they could, just the huge amount of time and man-power necessary. It'll be interesting to see what happens around the nation as a result of this tragedy.

C.

It will be intersting to say the least. More in the news out here on bridges too. Apparently many are alrteady undergoing inspection & the results are sobering (e..g, rusted pieces falling off while the inspector is examining them. :oogle:wow). Looks like we now get to start paying for ignoring the infrastructure for so many years. Weee, another financial crisis for the state.

Hello Minneapolis...everyone alright?

Comments