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Topic: Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

Steve Scott
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1300
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 08-01-2007 09:16 PM

Just to let you all know, I am well, though under certain circumstances, I might've been close enough to this bridge to have been at the scene. In a surreal way, this was my day off. I will be at work, eight blocks upstream tomorrow morning & will take some photos of the scene.

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 08-01-2007 09:30 PM

Someone in the Minnesota Dept. of Transportation has some 'splainin' to do.

A few years ago the Oregon Dept. of Transportation figured out that the 50-year-old I-5 bridges spanning the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers here were both structurally unsound. Coincidentally, the bridges were designed and built in the 1950s with a 50-year lifespan in mind. The structural problems were so urgent that they had to detour heavy trucks to other routes. ODOT eventually built new temporary bridges that bypass the old ones. The temp bridges are designed to last only 10 years.

The old bridges still stand, and the one crossing the Willamette River seems to have visible sagging in some of the spans. I suspect it was closed in the nick of time.

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Allison Parsons
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 630
From: East Peoria, IL
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 08-01-2007 10:04 PM

I am NOT trying to make light of this situation, but some people reported feeling vibration on the bridge, while construction workers were hammering away. What was the episode of Myth Busters that they tried to 'take down' a bridge with vibrations?

How long was that bridge anyway?

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-02-2007 01:07 AM

quote: David Stambaugh
Someone in the Minnesota Dept. of Transportation has some 'splainin' to do.

I agree Dave. Makes one wonder just how far the structural engineers and inspectors have their heads up their collective ass.

I feel so sorry for the innocent people that, once again, trusted the "authorities" and "experts" and lost.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-02-2007 01:24 AM

I'm pretty nervous about this incident. My cousin, a really good fellow named Thomas McCurry, lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metroplex and drives through the I-35W corridor on a regular basis. I haven't heard from him since this happened. My aunt Patricia (his mother) hasn't heard anything either. I just pray he's alright.

My hopes and prayers are for all the families caught up in this disaster.

Some of this incident reminds me of that horrific incident that happened on I-40 in Oklahoma over the Arkansas River near Webber's Falls years ago. 14 people (and 4 horses) were killed when a barge hit the I-40 bridge going over the river. The barge hit the bridge support and caused large spans to fall away sending numerous vehicles flying into an abyss.

I think this is a pretty good sign for this nation to finally pull it stupidly dumb-assed head out of its collective ass and finally start paying attention to maintaining infrastructure. Doing that job right is not some socialist concern. It is a moral obligation. "Good enough" and selling out to the communist Chinese will not qualify. Americans absolutely Goddamn deserve roads and bridges that aren't going to kill them.
[fu]

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-02-2007 01:54 AM

I hope Bobby's cousin and all the other Minneapolis Film-Techers are OK.

I guess two things we can be thankful for are that the school bus managed to stop in time and that only one lane on the bridge was open, because of roadworks. I remember driving across it (or it could have been the one next to it - not sure) in heavy traffic when I visited Minneapolis in 2004: there would have been a lot more than 50 vehicles involved if all the lanes had been open.

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Hillary Charles
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 748
From: York, PA, USA
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 08-02-2007 06:06 AM

quote: Bobby Henderson
I think this is a pretty good sign for this nation to finally pull it stupidly dumb-assed head out of its collective ass and finally start paying attention to maintaining infrastructure. Doing that job right is not some socialist concern. It is a moral obligation. "Good enough" and selling out to the communist Chinese will not qualify. Americans absolutely Goddamn deserve roads and bridges that aren't going to kill them.

Amen, Bobby!

I'm afraid way too many of our nation's roadway structures are ticking time bombs of this sort. It's shameful!

Bobby, I hope you hear from your cousing soon.

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Stephen Furley
Film God

Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002

posted 08-02-2007 06:22 AM

quote: David Stambaugh
Coincidentally, the bridges were designed and built in the 1950s with a 50-year lifespan in mind.

That sounds like a very short lifespan for something like a major bridge.

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 08-02-2007 06:41 AM

In 1983 or so, the I95 bridge over the Mianus River here in Connecticut collapsed. A local resident had called the CT DOT several times prior about how the "sound" of cars going over the bridge was changing. They told her she was crazy. Also, the two bridge inspectors would 'inspect' the bridge using binoculars, sometimes from two miles away.

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 08-02-2007 09:37 AM

quote: Stephen Furley
That sounds like a very short lifespan for something like a major bridge.

Interstate 5 is the primary north-south artery for the west coast. It takes a horrible pounding from large trucks carrying very heavy loads. Fifty years could be the norm for this type of structure, I dunno.

Last night initial reports were that the Minnesota bridge had passed its 2005 inspection. Now the reports say it was actually judged structurally deficient, scoring 4s and 5s on a 9 point scale.

As a result of news inquiries, ODOT now says the bridges here were not structurally unsound and that their closure and replacement with very expensive temporary bridges was purely precautionary. Uh huh.

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Mark Hajducki
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 500
From: Edinburgh, UK
Registered: May 2003

posted 08-02-2007 11:04 AM

quote: Stephen Furley
That sounds like a very short lifespan for something like a major bridge.

The main Road Bridge over the Forth Estuary is estimated to be closed by 2020 giving it a lifetime of less than 65 years.

The 1890 opened Rail Bridge will last a lot longer.

[ 08-03-2007, 08:42 PM: Message edited by: Mark Hajducki ]

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-02-2007 11:07 AM

My cousin Tommy is alright (thank God). My aunt talked to him last night fairly late. He was at a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis when the bridge collapse happened. Tommy said he crossed that bridge taking I-35W on the way to work every day.

Our nation has lots and lots of bridges that are structurally deficient. A year ago a woman from Kansas was killed on I-35 in northern Oklahoma when a chunk of concrete fell from a crumbling overpass and smashed through her windshield.

A former co-worker of mine now works for a Texas-based construction company that specializes in bridge rehabilitation in Oklahoma and the Lone Star state. He didn't give bridges much thought previously, but this job has given him a whole new perspective. He has seen some bridges that look like they're barely held together by rust and paint. Yet thousands of people drive over them...oblivious to the danger under that road deck.

50 years may seem like a short life span for a bridge. However, any bridge requires regular maintenance or it won't last anywhere near that long. And you have the issues of geology. The earth supporting that bridge is in an ever changing state.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-02-2007 12:00 PM

Around 15 or 20 years ago when I was in Florida, my friend and I decided to drive the highway over the Keys. At one point, we were funneled into one lane because a huge bridge on the other side was "under construction." Weeks later I found out in a newspaper article that, in fact, the bridge had fallen down and was in the process of being rebuilt. The article said that somewhere around 50% of the bridges in the US are in serious need of some kind of work, but the usual "budget cuts" prevented it.

The bridge here over the Yellowstone River hasn't had so much as a coat of paint in my lifetime that I know of, and that bridge was built in 1952.

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Steve Scott
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1300
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 08-02-2007 01:14 PM

Well, I'm at work for the afternoon, watching the busiest Thursday traffic on humble Main Street I've witnessed yet.

The closest I got to the scene, this morning was on the University Ave. Bridge (the last overpass before the former bridge, where you'll probably see all the national newspeople reporting from). I got some epic photos of the buckled span, as well as group shots from the press conference with the Gov., congresspeople & the head of the NTSB. I should be able to crop down some photos of the overpass that collapsed onto the freight train, as well. All, to come when I arrive home this evening.

Traffic had backups around the detour, but the detour route (MN-280) has apparently been free-flowing. Many more buses in service, the light rail probably won't be affected, as it mainly services south metro connections. A lot of roaming amateur photographers around.

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Bruce McGee
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1776
From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular.
Registered: Aug 1999

posted 08-02-2007 01:31 PM

Was the bridge that collapsed built in the same style as the bridge on the other side?

There is a bridge here in Asheville that was built to replace a 95 year old 2-lane bridge. I was told by the son of the builder of the replacement bridge that the replacement would possibly last 30 years, maybe. Its all in being the LOW BIDDER!!! Its now 25 years old. It vibrates when I am walking on its sidewalk when cars go by.

The 95 year old bridge survived several major floods of the river, and had to be brought down with dynamite!

There is a local bridge on I-40 here that was built using substandard steel. Of course, the builder is long out of business. I tend to think that the state knew that the bridge was not right, and was in a big hurry to get I-40 open through here in the early 1970's.

I learned about this horrible incident while watching the BBC News last night. Their reporting was very thorough.

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