Would've sucked to be in rush hour traffic there today.

Are you in Minneapolis?

I thought you were in Cal or Canada

No, I'm not in Minneapolis. Passed through there twice, that's it.

But that bridge collapse - yeesh.

I don't think it's THAT far from rtryb2200, maybe a couple hours...

I heard about that. 7 people died...crazy

It is just over an hour from where I am....I didn't find out until 7 last night. It was tough getting cell service to find out if our friends were OK, although everyone I know is fine. I've been accross that bridge many times.

They say 1 of the 34 construction workers is missing, 67 injured and 9 dead. Also at least 50 cars/trucks went into the water. I'm sure we'll here more today, they're still saying at this time it is more then likely structural failure

Biggest thing the stupid reporters do not understand is that the hwy is 35W....this hwy runs north and south, not west like some of the major news networks have been stating. The W differentiates it from 35E which is in St Paul, which also runs north and south.


1 report by the U of M engineering dept from 2001 cited:
http://www.cts.umn.edu/Research/Proj...tml?id=1999014

"The bridge's deck truss has not experienced fatigue cracking, but it has many poor fatigue details on the main truss and floor truss system. The research helped determine that the fatigue cracking of the deck truss is not likely, which means that the bridge should not have any problems with fatigue cracking in the foreseeable future. As a result, Mn/DOT does not need to prematurely replace this bridge because of fatigue cracking, avoiding the high costs associated with such a large project."


Here is the documentation of what was suposed to happen to the bridge:
http://www.oim.dot.state.mn.us/excel...08%20STIP).xls

Note this section:

"This project is currently in the 2006-2008 STIP in SFY 2006, identified as 2783-9340D and includes bridge repairs and bridge painting. Meto District has determined that it would be more efficient to remove the bridge repair element and do all painting of bridges in the same project limits. Bridge 9340 was deleted from the project and bridges 27887 and 27888 will no longer be repaired but will be painted instead. These bridges will be repaired in SFY 2007, which still has $5.4M available in the Bridge Improvement Program for additional bridge work. Bridges 27889 and 27999 have also been added to the project, so all bridges in the project area will be painted at the same time. The project will need a traffic control plan; therefore, the SP number has been changed from a bridge SP# to a Trunk Highway SP#."

Also note this, from the MN DOT anti-icing project:
http://www.research.dot.state.mn.us/news.asp?storyID=65

"I-35W & Mississippi River Bridge Anti-Icing Project
#2001-22 Jul 2001 Available online.
This project involved an anti-icing system that was installed on the I-35W & Mississippi River bridge (#9340). Data from sensors and Road Weather Information System (RWIS) determine the driving conditions. Once hazardous conditions are determined to be imminent the sustainable system sprays the anti-icing chemical potassium acetate."

It is just over an hour from where I am....I didn't find out until 7 last night. It was tough getting cell service to find out if our friends were OK, although everyone I know is fine. I've been accross that bridge many times.

They say 1 of the 34 construction workers is missing, 67 injured and 9 dead. Also at least 50 cars/trucks went into the water. I'm sure we'll here more today, they're still saying at this time it is more then likely structural failure

Good to hear your friends are all okay.

My girlfriend's aunt lives there and deos a lot of driving, but I haven't heard anything about it, so she's okay.

the media is now freaking out like every bridge in North America is gonna collapse in the next month. Nevermind it's been, what, 40 years since an American bridge collapsed without an outside force like a high magnitude earthquake...

Your tax dollars at work. Pay your state taxes, or we'll knock your fucking bridges down.

I drove over a bridge this morning that is above 4 lane rush hour traffic on Georgia 400. I was behind this giant fucking crane that was going about 8mph. Needless to say I remembered this shit, and passed the guy quickly on the double yellow, because my ass isn't falling off some broken bridge.

I drove over a bridge this morning that is above 4 lane rush hour traffic on Georgia 400. I was behind this giant fucking crane that was going about 8mph. Needless to say I remembered this shit, and passed the guy quickly on the double yellow, because my ass isn't falling off some broken bridge.

Pussy.

A buddy of mine at work, who just moved from there (actually lived about 2 miles away) still cant get a hold one of his best friends.....hes freaked out a bit.

the media is now freaking out like every bridge in North America is gonna collapse in the next month. Nevermind it's been, what, 40 years since an American bridge collapsed without an outside force like a high magnitude earthquake...

History channel was talking about bridge collapses this morning. There were quite a few in the 80's.

that collapsed from fatigue?

I drive 35W several times a week. I sometimes take that bridge or 280 to get to practice. Lucky it was cancelled that day since I wouldv'e been there about 6pm.

Anyways, my drive was smoother because they removed some stoplights on 280 into Minneapolis that added 10 minutes to the 280 route.

People were moving along at a good pace and no stoplight :) I understand one of my mom's co-workers is or was amongst the missing.