Blogs Describe Shock, Question Causes of Structural Failure

By Jeff Fecke
Thursday, August 02, 2007 at 10:12 am

Blogs in Minnesota and around the country reacted with shock, horror and anger at the collapse of the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River.

Perhaps no blogger had a better view of the collapse than Noah Kunin of Blanked-Out, whose apartment is near the bridge:

Description of collapse: Surprisingly quiet, but my entire warehouse apt shook quite a bit. Bridge fell so very slowly – poof. Yelled and yelled but no one answered. Only a handful of ppl in water, all got out ok and then began to help as well. Ran into woman who thought school bus was trapped on east side in fold of highway. Couldn’t confirm it or get to the other bank to help.

Kunin helped get people off of the bridge as best he could, and updated with pictures and images throughout the night.

Saint Paul at Fraters Libertas also had an eyewitness account from Sisyphus of Nihilist in Golf Pants:

Shortly after 6 PM today I was on a Mississippi river dinner cruise organized by my work. We left from Boom Island, heading down river towards St. Paul. Enjoying a cold one as we passed through the Upper Lock by St. Anthony Falls on a pleasant warm evening, the only worry was that the rain wouldn’t hold off until our cruise was complete. I made my way up to the front of the boat to watch, along with a half-dozen or so others, as the boat approached the Lower Lock. Then I saw something I hope I never see the like of again.
As our boat approach the entrance of the lock, the bridge a few hundred yards beyond collapsed before our very eyes.
I remember seeing the bridge buckle, and a white vehicle fall into the water. Then, the span of the bridge on the east bank side crumpled up like an accordion and the entire bridge fell towards the river. It was over before my brain could comprehend what I had seen – you just don’t expect to see a bridge collapse right before your eyes with no warning. And not being accustomed to looking at the city from on the river, I didn’t immediately realize that the bridge I had just seen fall into the Mississippi was the I-35W Bridge.

John Hinderaker of Power Line expressed shock:

This is the kind of disaster that just doesn’t happen in the United States–a bridge spontaneously collapsing, apparently, into a river. It is hard to convey to those who don’t live here the astonishment of this sort of catastrophe happening on our most traveled highway.

Ed Morrissey of Captain’s Quarters noted that state legislators had apparently not been apprised of a report calling the bridge “structurally deficient”:

Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) noted that Minnesota’s Department of Transportation (MnDOT) never mentioned that to the state legislature. If MnDOT knew of a poor rating on this bridge, they apparently never considered it a high enough priority to ask for special funding for repairs. [...] More details will come in the days and weeks ahead. If someone ignored a warning on this, expect Minnesotans to demand some housecleaning.

more insideMike McIntee of Inside Minnesota Politics noted that repairs on the bridge had been delayed from 2006 to 2007:

A MN DOT document from March 2006 indicated that the bridge was scheduled for repairs in 2006, but it was removed from the schedule because it would be more efficient to do the work in 2007. One of the questions that needs to be answered is if budget constraints were the cause of delaying the repairs.

Phoenix Woman at Mercury Rising wondered if the bridge collapse was related to infrastructure funding levels:

Did we have advance warning? Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota’s governor, says no – he says the bridge passed its most recent exams with no major problems. Others beg to differ: as the sidebar in this NPR article states, in 2005, engineers rated the bridge as “structurally deficient” and that it would possibly need to be replaced, not just repaired. It’s possible that delayed maintenance – delayed because of budget cuts, as the Republican Pawlenty would rather chop off his own genitals than undo his tax cuts for the rich – may have been a factor.

Greg from Rhymes With Right, meanwhile, said he had feared a different cause:

I’ll be honest — this sort of massive failure of a major bridge on an interstate highway left me assuming that we had seen a successful terrorist attack. However, the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis appears to be something else — though exactly what is still not clear, even as the casualty report stands at 9 dead, 60 injured, and 20 missing.

Lars Walker of Brandywine Books suggested that we shouldn’t assume terrorism wasn’t a factor:

And I still can’t get terrorism out of my mind. The whole thing just doesn’t add up. Somebody’s holding something back, I suspect, to prevent panic.

In a diary at Daily Kos, CarrieICL blamed Gov. Tim Pawlenty for being too stingy in funding roads:

In May 2005, bipartisan transportation bill which would have added an extra $300 million a year to MnDoT was shot down by Pawlenty to avoid raising taxes.

Rick Perlstein of Campaign for America’s Future also wondered about funding. Citing a 2005 City Pages article detailing “the juggling of millions more dollars through accounting shifts and delayed payment arrangements…” by Pawlenty in his first term, Perlstein wondered, “Any ‘delayed payment arrangements’ to the Minnesota Department of Transportation?

The Admiral at Anti-Strib attacked Rep. Keith Ellison, DFL-Minn.:

Hakim. It’s a photo op, he’ll be here in a New York minute, spewing his usual tired old radical line of B.S. He will use this event for personal gain. I believe he’s actually gleeful over this event, because he gets publicity for himself.
He will use this event as a soapbox for his agenda of higher taxes, he will use it to bash Republicans, and he will use it as a mouthpiece for his overall agenda. He is selfish and disingenuous, and will use this for his own personal gain.

Michael Brodkorb of Minnesota Democrats Exposed called for civility:

I was hoping that Minnesota Democrats wouldn’t politicize this tragedy. Sadly, some have. I was disgusted by Elwyn Tinklenberg comments on KARE-11. Talk of blaming this tragedy on the failure to raise the gas-tax increase is disgusting.

Several bloggers posted images and video of the collapse. Craig at Museings of a DJ had links to a security video showing the collapse. Flash at Centrisity had several photographs posted, including the photos used on this story. And a thread at Flickr pointed to a number of other images.

One Minnesota Monitor reader thought immediately of a 2005 article from the satirical newspaper The Onion:

Although many of its highways and bridges are in severe disrepair, the traditionally undemanding state of Minnesota isn’t comfortable asking for more interstate funding, sources reported Monday.
“Oh, we wouldn’t want to bother the U.S. government-they’ve got more than enough on their plate as it is,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said. “Most of the potholes on I-90 are less than four feet wide. We get by just fine. I wouldn’t want anyone all the way over there in Washington to be worrying about little ol’ us.”

Jason Steck of The Moderate Voice thought that the reroute of traffic was likely to cause chaos:

Due to the loss of a major artery in an already overloaded transportation infrastructure, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has cobbled together an unusual detour, converting a highway with signal lights to an ad hoc freeway by setting all lights to green and blocking side street entrances. Such measures are unlikely to relieve the long-term congestion problem, as the lost bridge will likely require several years to be replaced and since alternative routes over the Mississippi River are few. As one MnDOT official put the problem, “we don’t have a spare 35W.” Others familiar with the Twin Cities transportation system are concerned about the increased load on other elements of the bridge system. For example, one of the major alternative routes for truck traffic involves the use of another badly overloaded and overused bridge on state highway 52 in Saint Paul. (Due to complaints from residents of wealthy neighborhoods, truck traffic is not allowed on the other branch of interstate 35, 35E.)

James Lileks, blogging for Buzz.mn, said he’d miss the view from the bridge:

I’ve driven across this bridge every few days for thirty years. There are bridges, and there are bridges; this one had the most magnificent view of downtown available, and it’s a miracle I never rear-ended anyone while gawking at the skyline, the old Stone Bridge, the Mississippi. You always felt proud to be here when you crossed that bridge, pleased to live in such a beautiful place. Didn’t matter if it was summer twilight or hard cold winter noon – Minneapolis always seemed to be standing at attention, posing for a formal portrait . We’ll have that view again – but it’ll take a generation before it’s no longer tinged with regret and remembrance.

And several bloggers of all political stripes pointed people looking to help to the Red Cross of the Twin Cities, which is accepting blood and monetary donations to help the victims and their families.