Strib article on bridge collapse, recovery

**joepublic** · 08-02-2007, 09:54 AM

Bridge "structurally deficient" in last inspection.

4 dead, 79 injured, 20 missing as recovery efforts continue

**brianhos** · 08-02-2007, 10:01 AM

Ohh boy, this is gonna get ugly quick.

**dmclone** · 08-02-2007, 10:38 AM

$10 says that someone blames Bush for this.

**bos** · 08-02-2007, 10:46 AM

I love how the media wont shut up about the terrorist activities mumbo jumbo. They have to keep mentioning that it doesnt look to be terrorist related. Did anyone really think that anyway?

**isucyfan** · 08-02-2007, 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by bostinelosd

I love how the media wont shut up about the terrorist activities mumbo jumbo. They have to keep mentioning that it doesnt look to be terrorist related. Did anyone really think that anyway?

Unfortunately, I did. We live in St. Paul, and were out playing with the kids, and a jet flew very low overhead, which is rare for our part of the city. I then went in to check on the weather and, of course, saw the news coverage. The timeline of the plane and the collapse matched up, so we were really wondering. It was later apparent that it was not terrorist related, but that's what the mind turns to these days.

**bos** · 08-02-2007, 10:53 AM

Well with the plane flying low, sure. But the actual bridge collapse on its own?

**isucyfan** · 08-02-2007, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by dmclone

$10 says that someone blames Bush for this.

Or for Falwell (from the grave) or Robertson to say it happened because of the gays.

**jbhtexas** · 08-02-2007, 10:56 AM

It comes down to priorities. What has the most glitter? What will give instant gratification to the taxpayer? Will it be a new stadium for Vikings/Twins/Gophers, or replacing the 40-year old structurally deficient I-35 bridge? Well guess what...major infrastucture always gets rebuilt. The only question is under what terms and conditions the rebuilding will get done. Unfortunately, nowadays, it seems more and more that it takes loss of life for infrastructure to get updated.

It's the same everywhere. There are roads in east Arlington with potholes that can swallow up my F-250. There are dangerous, dinky little narrow county roads (no better than section lines really) with no shoulders and deep ditches that have been paved over "as is" and turned into "major" streets connecting subdivisions. People have already died in accidents on those roads. There is no money to fix those dangerous roads, but we somehow found almost $400 million to help Jerry Jones build a new stadium for the Cowboys.

It really comes down to us, the voters. If we got sufficiently involved and demanded that things get fixed before people got killed, they would get fixed.

**bos** · 08-02-2007, 11:00 AM

Good point.

**psycln11** · 08-02-2007, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by dmclone

$10 says that someone blames Bush for this.

OK...I'll bite!!

It's Bush's fault because we are spending all the money on the "War on Terror" that could be spent to rehab our failing infrastructure!!

**psycln11** · 08-02-2007, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by bostinelosd

Well with the plane flying low, sure. But the actual bridge collapse on its own?

That's it...the plane's jet wash created undo turbulence which collapsed the bridge.

There was nothing the original designer could do about this.

**bos** · 08-02-2007, 11:21 AM

Nice. Maybe it was an alien anal probe.

**cycloneworld** · 08-02-2007, 11:26 AM

For those South Park fans...It was probably Manbearpig's doing.

**thakeepa14** · 08-02-2007, 11:27 AM

I was really nervous coming into work today, as I work 10 minutes away (not at rush hour) from the bridge and have many coworkers who drive it multiple times daily. I was driving home from work (in the opposite direction) at the very time of the collapse but knew people who drove that way and left the time I did. Just horrifying.

I can also say that after moving here a year ago that I love living here and there are so many positives to living in the TC, however Minnesota roads have been in absolutely horrible condition, severely neglected for quite some time now. It is a much deeper problem than just this bridge. All the transportation agencies from what I've read even before this event have been severely underfunded. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if lack of proper inspections, or passing off something sub-par just because there are so many dire concerns in the cities is what caused this problem to pass inspection. This is a national problem, yes, but I think MN's got a larger problem as the roads on a whole are much worse than I've ever witnessed in Iowa or around the country. But hey, as the voters seem to always agree, "they're just roads."