T1B

The eight-lane Interstate 35 bridge, which links Minneapolis and St. Paul, was being repaired at the time, and an eyewitness told MSNBC that he heard a jackhammer being used on the roadway just before the collapse at about 6 p.m. Central time. Witnesses said the bridge, which was built in 1967, collapsed south to north, in three sections, sending a plume of smoke 100 feet into the sky.

The bridge had been supported by a steel structure.

Berndt Toivonen, 51, of Minneapolis, told the Star-Tribune he was on his way home from a painting job when the bridge collapsed beneath his car.

“The bridge started to buckle,” he said. “It went up and it came down. I thought I was going to die.” Although he was uninjured, he said that all around him people were screaming from their cars, some with injuries, as he went from vehicle to vehicle helping people out.

It's nice Ric Jensen's cousin was there to help save the day.

So, if they were working on the bridge, who gets sued? Since there are apparently 7 fatalities? What would have likely caused the bridge to collapse while they were working on it?

CAPTION

...the guy in the green portable toilet near the center of the pic...



"Ooof! No more Mexican food for me..."

Risa wrote:Will this be occuring with other bridges built during that time period?

Do you know of "other" bridges built during "that time period?"

Start a proper thread. Post a link with an actual news story. Do it now. Any other response, this thread gets sent to trots.

Martyred, ha. I didn't even notice that. I just saw what the bridge did to that semi, and shuddered. The guy in the toilet, if there was one, has just been blessed by divine providence. Much better to be there, and have shat all over one's self.... than to fall into the river while on the throne.

RadioFan wrote:

Risa wrote:Will this be occuring with other bridges built during that time period?

Do you know of "other" bridges built during "that time period?"

Start a proper thread. Post a link with an actual news story. Do it now. Any other response, this thread gets sent to trots.

You caught me in the middle of re-editing. Thank you. You can trots it anyway. Just wondered why no one had said anything, since there are Minnesota trolls here. Reading the article, can't assume that its age caused it to collapse when there were crews working to repair it. The article doesn't say if it was a full scale 'replace the bridge' repair or just a 'minor' one.

So, for the engineers, what would usually cause this; how could it have been prevented; and what will happen now that the bridge has collapsed?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/us/02 ... ge.html?hp

The entire span of the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed about 6:05 p.m. where the freeway crosses the river near University Avenue in Minneapolis.

By LIBBY SANDER
Published: August 2, 2007

CHICAGO, Aug. 1 — An interstate highway bridge in downtown Minneapolis loaded with rush-hour traffic dropped more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River tonight, sending at least 50 cars and passengers into the water below.

Local officials said there were at least three fatalities, and expected the number to increase through the night. One witness told CNN that a policeman him he had seen seven dead bodies. Dozens of injured drivers and passengers were taken to area hospitals.

The eight-lane Interstate 35 bridge, which links Minneapolis and St. Paul, was being repaired at the time, and an eyewitness told MSNBC that he heard a jackhammer being used on the roadway just before the collapse at about 6 p.m. Central time. Witnesses said the bridge, which was built in 1967, collapsed south to north, in three sections, sending a plume of smoke 100 feet into the sky.

The bridge had been supported by a steel structure.

Divers and rescue boats continued to search the river and the twisted wreckage of the bridge, with darkness setting in and rain beginning to fall. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune said some passengers were seen floundering in the river, calling for help.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” said one witness, Joe Costello, who described the scene to CNN from a hillside nearby.

“This is a very busy bridge,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, whose home is nearby. “It’s really right in the heart of the city. Thousands of commuters use this bridge every day,” she told CNN.

Television pictures showed a school bus on one section of the collapsed slab, but the back door was open and no passengers could be seen around the bus. Medical officials said several of the children had been brought to area hospitals, some with injuries. A column of smoke curled up from a tractor-trailer near the bus.

Berndt Toivonen, 51, of Minneapolis, told the Star-Tribune he was on his way home from a painting job when the bridge collapsed beneath his car.

“The bridge started to buckle,” he said. “It went up and it came down. I thought I was going to die.” Although he was uninjured, he said that all around him people were screaming from their cars, some with injuries, as he went from vehicle to vehicle helping people out.

Joe Clinton, chief of emergency medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center, said there were six patients at the hospital with critical injuries and another 22 with injuries not considering life threatening. There was one fatality at the hospital, he said.

Update on what's going on in Minneapolis:

Bottom of the 8th, 2 outs, none on base.

Royals 3
Twinkies 3

Minny bullpen about to implode.

Oh, and they postponed the game tomorrow, so we miss Santana.

Rack that bridge.

Teahen homers in the 10th to give KC a 2 run lead. Good for fantasy baseball team.

Alex Gordon, not Teahen... and the Royals wipe their cocks on Minny drapes and give them another reason to cry...

God Bless my I-35 North bretheren, btw. That had to suck.

Learn how to build, or repair, a confounded bridge.

Coming soon to a Minneapolis near you:

I got to thinking about the van with the wheelchair ramp. Anyone know if Quad has been around lately?

Quadrevion fell in the river?

I knew there was a reason Annie started this thread. Fucking racist bridges.

R-Jack wrote:Matt Foley is gonna be crushed.

Racked!

"Once, there was a boy who liked to throw things. He started out throwing eggs. Then, he threw the big game. Then, he threw back a shot of whiskey. Then he threw up. Then he got thrown out of the house, and then he moved into a van down by the river!"

Bush hates Norwegians. So do I, for that matter.

I don't hate Norwegian women aged 18-35. The rest of them can go french-kiss a jet engine, for all I care.

Nice bridge, squareheads.

why hasn't the reknowned structural engineer, rosie O'fat chimed in yet? i suspect she's busy putting together the report on how cheney had haliburton do it.

smackaholic wrote:why hasn't the reknowned structural engineer, rosie O'fat chimed in yet? i suspect she's busy putting together the report on how cheney had haliburton do it.

She's too busy writing love poems to Paula Abdul:

right now
paula abdul would yell action
and the result would be
what we all see

there r times
u r so broken
fragile
pain filled
love less
desperate
raw
vulnerable
so needy for love

the black hole
satan vortex
gains and drains
eventually

were we brave enuf
or stoned enuf
to allow access
to the swampy crazy part

hey paula
we cringe
at r selves
thru u

an interior designer
top of her game
home maker of the stars
a hairdresser arrives

and nods
yes yes
i know her so
money wasted - time - talent

no no no
she cries
did u know u were creating for me?
she asks the insulted artist

and blah blah blah
good god
the worst of us
all


I don't know why folks brought up the terrorism card. The foreign terrorists don't give a fuck about Middle America except to lay low and breed. If something happens in Middle America, it's either a shit accident, or a domestic terrorist.

So, which Aryan group is gonna raise their hand over this one?

mvscal wrote:So do we blame this on Bush or Global Warming or both?

1. Bush needed a good news diversion from Gonzales shitstorm (Not to mention the Iraqi Elephant in the room.) Check.

2. One that put him in a positive light as the man of healing and compassion. Check.

3. Especially in a place with suburban moderates, the kind of people bailing on him in droves. Check.

4. In place that wouldn't disrupt his schedule too much (Laura was going to be in Minny for something.) Check.

5. Something that could easily be blamed on something obvious like an old bridge with suspect inspection reports and currently under construction. Check.

6. Something that would lead to more gas guzzling (as sort of a bonus) such as detours. Check.

Looks open and shut to me. He did it. . . . How does this work? Do I get my own blog now?

Person of interest.

Risa wrote:So, which Aryan group is gonna raise their hand over this one?

Prince?

Or maybe Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Fucking idiot.

Rack Bobby42.

RadioFan wrote:

Risa wrote:So, which Aryan group is gonna raise their hand over this one?

Prince?

Or maybe Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Fucking idiot.

Shrug, man. I only brought it up because I'd seen in some pockets of the internet where folks were trying to make this out to be a terrorist attack and wondering why that possibility wasn't being raised.

And then, of course, some folks in Romper Room tried to turn it into a 'damn muzzies again!' circus, before being put down by other folks.

I'm just saying, to me, middle america US is more likely to be hit by a domestic terrorist, a la the white nationalists killing folks with anthrax, or the hillbilly abortion clinic bombers, (or even the black we'll-blame-whites church bombers)... than someone foreign. And that's why I asked which Aryan group was going to raise their hand, if one wanted to consider terrorism. But folks always forget them.

RadioFan wrote:

Risa wrote:So, which Aryan group is gonna raise their hand over this one?

Prince?

Or maybe Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Fucking idiot.

Don't forget the greatest band in the world: The mother-fucking Time.

Goober McTuber wrote:Rack Bobby42.

Seconded

I guess I'll rack him, too, just because that's a disturbing statue; but I still don't know what a moth has to do with a bridge. Don't tell me... watch the movie?

Or just flop around wetly ignorant of why the rack is bestowed - you know, your usual routine.

mvscal wrote:So do we blame this on Bush or Global Warming or both?

Don't blame Dins. He would have used square-headed deck screws.

He's not a scandinavian-descended bridge safety analyst residing in twin cities...but he knows such a person, and...

I hate to be lumped in with annie on this one, but, I don't get the mothman thing either. I read the wikipedia thing...sort of and I am still annie-like in my cluelessness.

smackaholic wrote:I hate to be lumped in with annie on this one, but, I don't get the mothman thing either. I read the wikipedia thing...sort of and I am still annie-like in my cluelessness.

,

Check out the folklore of the December 15, 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio River where 46 people died. Then connect the dots. There ya go.

thanks bob. you a'ight............for a black dude.