Bridge collapse in Minneapolis

Good lord. Is this the biggest bridge/heaviest traffic in the city?

To give some perspective on the scope of this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-35W_Bridge

xpost: Generally a huge amount of traffic. Also during the late part of rush hour.

Probably a bit early for this, but check-ins from MPLS/STPL ilxors would be nice.

oh god :(

holy FUCK

i drive on that bridge a couple times a week

I was already scared of bridges...this isn't helping. Terrifying.

"cars were on fire" WTF?

Terrifying. Going to turn on tv now.

Wasn't there a highway collapse in CA the other day?

"bumper-to-bumper traffic"

the wreckage is absolutely insane

cars absolutely everywhere laying in every which way

Wasn't there a highway collapse in CA the other day?

Yes: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291544,00.html

"every minneapolis ambulance has been dispatched to the scene"

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_213191448.html

http://www.kare11.com/assetpool/images/0781193245_bridge_down_hd.jpg

i'm ok.

freaked as fuck right now

olbermann's covering this right now. terrifying.

Glad you're okay; I am completely freaked out. Trying to call friends in the area, but I think some of the phone coverage and cell coverage has been overwhelmed.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bridge.collapse.ap/index.html

looks like some people survived the fall in their cars and are now stranded on the pieces

This shit is horrific.

http://wcco.com/slideshows/local_slideshow_213194533/view?slide=0

oh no fanon just left for there!!!!

jesus christ

wtf wtf wtf

Yeah this is just the most terrible thing. What a complete nightmare.

oh my god :( :( crazy

some geographic context:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=minneapolis&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=44.978992,-93.244314&spn=0.028475,0.058708&t=h&z=14&iwloc=addr

Incomprehensible.

absolutely fucking nuts

phone call to mom not going thru

ok everyone in the country is apparently calling whoever they know in minneapolis right now

I've gotten a couple of emails from people saying they are okay, but phone appears to be a no go for the moment.

yeah i better call my dad, we have some cousins around there

Wow, it would be amazing if there are in fact no fatalities, as news reports say. An infrastructure clusterfuck forever, though, with that bridge gone. Jeez Louise.

Oh my fucking god, this is horrible. Like Lucy I was already scared of bridges for this reason too. Oh god.

CNN's reporting at least one confirmed fatality.

Oh, too bad.
I LOVE bridges. So beautiful, and such a thrill to drive over.

storm blowing in now, too

Number of vehicles in the water: anywhere from 8 - 50

Now 3 confirmed fatalities. From what I can tell from my phone, cel phones are nearly unusable here right now.

OK I got through to my mom. But the 8,000 other fam and friends I have there...

How can this happen? It's FUCKING 35W?!?!

Got through to Jeff (fluffy bear) and he's OK.

No fatalities on school bus.

That looks terrifying. wtf

There was a school bus on the bridge? Ach.

Cell phones are "inoperable" right now according to NBC.

FB managed to send a text message via landline (whatever the hell that means) to me saying "everyone okay." I assume he meant himself and... yeah I don't know who else.

Jesus, this is scary.

jesus christ :(

ok, mom was on the bridge 20 fucking minutes before it collapsed. says traffic was terrible.

Holy shit GR :( She must be a mess.

Half of my friends are UM law school grads.

mine too, now that i work here anyway.

as far as I know, there haven't been any law school folks that were on the bridge.

xpost to John: someone has to bail you out, you know.

5 dead, 8 missing, 70+ injured

All things considered, this seems miraculously low. I really hope it doesn't get any worse.

wait, yeah, she just finished her third year! took the bar just a bit ago

small world!

small town, too!

That it is!

Wait RW so one of her friends is actually among the missing?

no, no, she and her friends were just really freaked out initially since they all drive over the bridge on the regular.

guess who's at the site:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3445882&page=1

Oh. I expected the Westboro Baptist Church, somehow. THANK GOD FOR FAGGOT BRIDGES etc

I think this lot are just as bad.

KYLE = OKAY

THANK YOU DAN! That's fantastic news.

Took him long enough

Not surprised, but that doesn't mean this doesn't fill me with murderous rage.

The word "reprehensible" doesn't even begin to cover it.

too bad there isn't a hell for these people to end up in... pretty sure minnesota will give them the cold shoulder, which is the best we can ask for. short of a firing squad.

oh, the folks who don angel wings will probably be there. They don the wings to protect funerals that Phelps and his minions actively protest.

it is so disgusting - I find comfort in the angel wings response.

The angel wings started after Matthew Shephard's brutal murder. people literally wear gigantic wings and stand between Phelps (or anyone else) to protect the sanctity of the funeral.

It's horrific that it is even neccesary - but it's the only response that works at highly publicized funerals.

the wiki entry on phelps is really interesting. Apparently even without the church stuff, he'd still be a totally vile human being.

I know there's a biker troop up here that travels around defending military funerals from these fucks. I imagine they'll do their best to make this uncomfortable for them, which is a small comfort, I suppose.

I like how if I fuck something up, like a bridge, it would not fail if we were all righteous. Think of how care free we could be, God's hand holding everything up.

Doctor, his heart stopped.
Don't worry, I'll just patch it with this piece of chewing gum.
But will that work?
God's hands, nurse. God's hands.

Yup, Patriot Guard. They started up a few years back after the Phelps group started showing up at funeral for fallen servicemen in Iraq. Now the Phelps gang shows up at any horrible event with a bodycount that's received an amount of publicity: the Virginia Tech massacre, mine collapsings, etc.

xp

I knew about "g0dh4tesfags.com", but until reading the wiki, I had no idea he had also started up "g0dh4tessweden.com, g0dh4tesireland.com, and g0dh4tescanda.com".

Hasn't had time in his busy gay-bashing schedule to start g0dh4tesminnesota.com, but I'm sure he's working on it.

I swear, I was just kidding when I mentioned them. :-/

g0dh4tessweden

is he a nutbag preacher or Bergman?

THE BRIDGE IS BACK!!!!

opened today : )

getting around in the twin cities just got a whole lot easier.

damn they got that done fast....

http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/746*500/M4286837.JPG

Holy crap that white bridge is modern and magical. Does it go to fairyland?

nice bridge

Lookin' good, Lake City.

lol diametric opposite of Boston

northeast minneapolis is not an island anymore : )

lol diametric opposite of Boston

― i am the small cat (HI DERE), Thursday, September 18, 2008 8:48 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

? how so?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig_(Boston,_Massachusetts)

Bah. Add the closing paranthesis to that link.

fixed via admin magicitude

nope, nevermind, now it justs links to a missing wiki article. so much for magic.

this was ridic fast though.

lol yr admin-fu is lacking, young grasshopper

The Big Dig has been the most expensive highway project in the U.S.[5] Although the project was estimated at $2.8 billion in 1985 (in 1982 dollars, US$6.0 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2006),[6] over $14.6 billion ($8.08 billion in 1982 dollars)[6] had been spent in federal and state tax dollars as of 2006.[7] At the beginning of the project, Congressman Barney Frank asked, "Rather than lower the expressway, wouldn't it be cheaper to raise the city?" The project has incurred criminal arrests,[8][9] escalating costs, death, leaks, and charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials. The Massachusetts Attorney General is demanding contractors refund taxpayers $108 million for "shoddy work".[10] On January 23, 2008, it was reported that Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the consortium that oversaw the project, would pay $407 million in restitution for its poor oversight of subcontractors (some of whom committed outright fraud), as well as primary responsibility in the death of a motorist. However, despite admitting to poor oversight and negligence as part of the settlement,[11] the firm is not barred from bidding for future government contracts. Several smaller companies agreed to pay a combined sum of approximately $51 million.[12]

=======================

The new $234 million bridge contains hundreds of sensors that will collect data. The purpose of the "smart bridge" technology isn't to warn of another impending disaster; it's to detect small problems before they become big ones, said Alan Phipps, design manager for the project with Figg Engineering Group Inc. of Tallahassee, Florida.

"What these sensors are for, it's like going to your doctor for your health checkup," Phipps said. "It's to ensure you're maintained in top shape so you never get close to having a serious problem."

The bridge was completed on budget and more than three months ahead of the December 24 deadline. That means the contractors should get a bonus close to the contract maximum of $27 million, though the actual amount hasn't been determined.

someone remind me why I live in MA again

haha so it started in 85 and got done in 07??!?

The initial proposal dates back earlier than that! They finally broke ground in '91, so basically it's been under construction pretty much the entire time I've lived here.

nice, my friends in northeast must be very excited

they can now reemerge from their isolated hovels

their thirst for fresh commuter blood will once again be slaked

The Big Dig and that bridge are like multiple orders of magnitude separate.

...Yes, thus feeding nicely into my "diametric opposites" comment.

the chunnel took 12 years.