To All Minnesotans

[CajunCenturion]

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the bridge collapse.


--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[SantaMufasa]

Yes, condolences to families who lost loved ones...Shared feelings of relief to those who were on the bridge yet came away without injury...Regrets to the engineering, construction, and insurance firms who must deal with the liability aftermath.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[dgillz]

My condolences also.

It sounds like it could have been a lot worse. 30 minutes
later, after the Twins' game let out, the bridge would have been wall-to-wall traffic.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

"If you have a big enough dictionary, just about everything is a word"
--Dave Barry

 

[LNBruno]

Add my thoughts and prayers, also.

< M!ke >
I am not a hamster and life is not a wheel.

 

[snuv]

And mine.

"If it could have gone wrong earlier and it didn't, it ultimately would have been beneficial for it to have." : Murphy's Ultimate Corollary

 

[SantaMufasa]

...the bridge would have been wall-to-wall traffic.

Actually, there was "wall-to-wall" traffic on the bridge at the time due to construction on the bridge. The multi-lane structure was narrowed down to only one-lane in either direction (itself causing a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam), but reducing by 2/3 the potential, numerically, for greater disaster.


With the Twins game, it reminds me of the 7.1-magnitude October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake that hit the SF Bay Area at 5:04:15 pm, pancaking the 10-lane Cyprus-Structure Freeway in Oakland. On a normal day that component of the disaster would have killed thousands who would have been bumper-to-bumper at that time of day had it not been for everyone either being at, or watching on TV, Game 1 of the SF Giants/Oakland Athletics World Series Game.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[flapeyre]

And mine as well.

One thing to be thankful for: at that point of the river (which is close to the source), it wasn't that high up. The larger bridges down near the mouth of the river are three times higher; if one of those fails, the casualty toll would be much greater.

We have a lot of old bridges here; the Huey P. Long bridge over the Mississippi is a major highway (US 90) and railroad bridge that's 72 years old, and crossing it scares the heck out of me. It's getting a major upgrade as we speak (they are widening the roadway, which currently has 2 9-foot lanes in each direction without shoulders; they are outside of the truss structure of the railway portion of the main span, as if it were an afterthought). They are going to add trusses over the roadways and widen them to 3 11-foot lanes, with left and right shoulders.

Bad as that sounds, there's the Twin Span bridge that runs from the New Orleans suburb of Slidell to eastern New Orleans. It was badly damaged by Katrina, and they have temporary steel roadways in place of the concrete sections that were knocked off by the storm surge. The speed limit is 45 MPH, and heavy trucks are not allowed, but people routinely speed and weight restrictions are ignored. I hope and pray that the new $800 million bridge they are building to replace it is finished before the erector-set falls apart.

Solum potestis prohibere ignes silvarum.

 

[gbaughma]

I'm still trying to understand that whole situation. BECAUSE of the fact that a couple of lanes were closed, there was only about half of the "normal" weight for rush-hour traffic.

Of course, the other part that *really* scares me is that I would have been crossing that bridge (in my RV) this coming Tuesday.


Just my 2¢
-Cole's Law: Shredded cabbage

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Turkbear]

Hi all,
Thanks ( I am a Minnesotan) for the kind thoughts..
I work as the Enterprise Reporting administrator for the Minnesota Department of Transportation and, in one of those little life ironies, have been working on the Bridge related reporting system in our Business Objects enterprise system..Just glad we did not make any major changes to the production side _ it is a little busy now)





To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[GlenJohnson]

Add my thoughts also. Since I'm home with this game foot, been following the story since it happened last night. Hearing a lot more good stories than horror stories, entire school bus full of kids just getting ready to go over the edge. Couple of quick thinking kids in the back kick open the back door and help get ALL the kids out unhurt.

Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting

 

[flapeyre]

Hearing a lot more good stories than horror stories, entire school bus full of kids just getting ready to go over the edge. Couple of quick thinking kids in the back kick open the back door and help get ALL the kids out unhurt.

Are we talking about the same school bus? The one I saw on the news had dropped to the river on a concrete slab with 60 or so kids on board. Some critical and serious injuries (but thankfully, no deaths).

Solum potestis prohibere ignes silvarum.

 

[gbaughma]

Turkbear: Where in MN are you? I'm up on "Da Range", but I'll be spending next week and weekend down in St. Peter.



Just my 2¢
-Cole's Law: Shredded cabbage

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
I work in St.Paul ( at the Transportation Bldg) and
live in Bloomington ....


Imagine how many folks reading your post will wonder what 'Da Range' means...






To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[GlenJohnson]

Flapeyre, there was only one school bus to my knowledge. Several of the kids were interviewed today. NO real injuries to speak of. Sitting here with a broken foot, I've been following it since it happened, literally. Was watching Fox, when they broke in near minutes after it happened as they had the only news chopper in the sky. If you want to find out the most info on it, try Fox News.

Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting

 

[flapeyre]

I was watching Fox also, but this story says:

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 were taken to local hospitals, some with injuries.

Solum potestis prohibere ignes silvarum.

 

[gbaughma]

Well, I still have to head to St. Peter on Tuesday... I wonder if I'm just better off going down I35E... I think there's a truck restriction on 35E around St. Paul, but if I remember right, it's over 9000 pounds, and the GVRW on my RV is 9000 lbs... so I should be fine.



Just my 2¢
-Cole's Law: Shredded cabbage

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Use 35E south to 494 then east to 169

or

Go West on 694 all the way around to 494 then 169 S.

Or

East on 694 all the way around to 494 then 169 S






To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[gbaughma]

Turkbear:

Yeah... I'll probably do the 494 to 169 route from 35E. Nice drive, through White Bear Lake and the like... although depending on the time of day, the bit past the airport and Mall of America can be very congested. And I'll be driving a 23' RV. ;-)

Wanna hook up for a cup of coffee somewhere? I have all day on Tuesday to get where I'm going....



Just my 2¢
-Cole's Law: Shredded cabbage

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Sorry,. at work all day and, as a state employee, I have very short lunch and break times..

That route ( and the others) can be congested almost any time of day - we simply have grown too large for our infrastructure....





To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[ESquared]

The school bus did not drop to the river. Based on the diagram at the bottom of the linked article above, the section it was on was half the height of the part over the water, and it didn't fall all the way, either.

So yes, the school bus fell, but also it was ready to go over the edge, too, or at least it probably appeared that way to its passengers. Here's a picture.



[COLOR=black #d0d0d0]When I walk, I sometimes bump into things. I am closing my eyes so that the room will be empty.[/color]