Posted on 08/03/2007 5:58:08 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Politicians trying to account for one of the worst bridge collapses in U.S. history cast blame ranging from engineering faults to the Iraq war on Friday, while divers tried to reach the bodies of more victims in the Mississippi River's treacherous waters.
As investigators probed Wednesday's collapse that killed at least five people, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said outside experts would review the decisions of state engineers to shore up problems with the heavily-traveled 40-year-old bridge in central Minneapolis.
Engineers had decided to periodically inspect the steel superstructure beneath the Interstate 35W bridge and bolt on reinforcing plates where any flaws were found. But that work, which Pawlenty said fit in the state's budget, was postponed by resurfacing and repair work that was going on when the bridge buckled and fell.
"Experts that we rely on, technical experts and engineers, made some decisions about what needed to be done. They thought they were making an appropriate decision for their reasons, and now those decisions will have to be reviewed," Pawlenty said. A private engineering firm had been hired for the review.
"The bridge was declared fit for service," he said. "There will be tough questions asked, including by me, and we will get to the bottom of this."
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, suggested Bush administration spending on the Iraq war may have crimped funding for domestic projects such as road and bridge construction, and for such infrastructure projects as new levees for New Orleans.
"We've spent $500 billion in Iraq and we have bridges falling down in this country," Klobuchar told MSNBC. "I see a connection between messed-up priorities."
Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said billions of dollars were available for road and bridge repairs.
The bridge was a vital link over the Mississippi River and the most heavily used bridge in Minnesota with roughly 140,000 vehicles passing over each day.
"It is striking the bridge was carrying a load of traffic it was not designed for," said the Democratic Speaker of Minnesota's House, State Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher.
Estimates ranged as high as $500 million to rebuild it.
Visiting first lady Laura Bush praised the city's response: "We've seen the strength of your community, and because of that we're confident the bridge will be rebuilt and your city will heal."
President George W. Bush is scheduled to tour the scene on Saturday.
Pawlenty said a special legislative session may be in the offing to address funding to rebuild the bridge. Pawlenty's critics blamed him for vetoing a state gas-tax increase that would have boosted funding for construction projects.
Meanwhile, rescuers spent an entire day extracting the fifth fatality from under mounds of debris, Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack said. He said more victims were certain to be found.
Divers searched submerged cars that tumbled 65 feet (20 meters) into the Mississippi River when the bridge collapsed with a roar.
"This is very dangerous work because the divers can get caught in the debris, some of which is razor-sharp," Clack said.
Divers battled swift currents, and had to feel their way in the muddy waters around twisted steel and chunks of concrete.
"You got gas in there, oil. Besides, the Mississippi River is not the cleanest place. You didn't have any visibility, you just felt," Minneapolis Fire Department diver Raoul Raymose said on CBS' "Early Show."
Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek cautioned that his estimate of eight people still missing was "fluid" and subject to change.
Twenty-four of the nearly 100 people injured in the disaster remained in hospitals, including five who were in critical condition, a hospital spokesman said.
(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington)
"We've spent $500 billion in Iraq and we have bridges falling down in this country," Klobuchar told MSNBC. "I see a connection between messed-up priorities."
Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said billions of dollars were available for road and bridge repairs.
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Amy, I guess Minnesota has its share of Moonbats. I am just surprised how incredibly dense you are compared to some. The thought of you and Franken representing the state is a sad one to ponder, God help those who have to listen to your drivel and mean-spirited crap.
Wait....it’s all the fault of Katrina. You all up North sent good dollars to a sink hole in Louisana when you should have been fixing bridges. FEMA needs to take responsibility.
I see a connection between your head and your....oops....Bill O'Reilly might be monitoring my comments for hate speech so I better not say I see a connection between her head and her ass.
Dang! That was an accident, Bill. Honest. I meant to say her head and her elbow.
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Would be interesting to see what she earmarked. Just to get a glimps of her "priorities".
Oh my, a gal in that pic looks an awful lot like a niece of mine (or maybe not). Thanks for posting!
Congressman Billybob
Who's got messed up priorities Amy you socialist gas bag....
The coverage of this story is one more reason to despise the MSM.
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Anything to keep the MSM from covering the surge and its successes in Iraq.
$800 million on light rail. How much more for that new Twins Stadium?
Who’s got messed up priorities Amy you socialist gas bag....
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Have you met Terriergal?
The comments about light rail and a stadium sound awful familiar. :-)
Nope. Not that I remember at least. If I've forgotten, my apologies.
States get money for roads and bridges and do they spend them on infracture that needs it the most — usually not as they have other pet projects they would rather spend money on like roads to and from a new stadium.
I blame it on Congress for the way they appropriate the money and on State Government for the way they waste the money they do get on roads and bridges.
OK has some of the worst roads and bridges in the nation but we spend 65% of the budget on education to have some of the worst inner city and rural schools. With the except of suburban schools like Norman, Moore, Jenks, Broken Arrow and a few others, the schools here are not very good but they keep pouring money after bad.
Doubt if our state government is very different then the rest.
No problem, She had similar comments last night as well.
I am a native Minnesotan now in California for close to 30 years. I remember the old Met and the Twin Cities before it boomed to beat the band.
I propose the bridge collapse began in 1964...with the “Great Society” programs of LBJ...though perhaps sooner with the “New Frontier” programs of JFK. This is when then federal government oversaw the following programs...Civil Rights, War on Poverty, Education, Medicare, Medicaid, Public Broadcasting, Consumer protection and the start of Environmentalism.... While the need for Civil Rights was necessary at the time and was constitutional none of the other programs met the test. The reason we don’t have money now for basic infrastructure is that it has been, and will be continue to be spent, on social (read socialism) type programs. We are becoming a socialist country and it started over 40 years ago.
I would agree that what we are witnessing is not just another localized event as past history would readily reflect.
I would also hope a lot of state officials are doing some serious soul searching as a result of this structural failure.. Public safety is and always should be Job #1.
Somewhere else I read that birdshit could have been the cause of the bridge collapse. Heap enough birdshit on any structure and it will collapse, I guarantee.
I saw that earlier, not sure about the number of nests , perches etc, but at this point, nothing ought to not be considered, we owe the victims that much.
I must admit, however, that those hosts may have been unwittingly duped into believing the person they were meeting with was "The President".
I base my possible conspiracy on a comment that Laura Ingraham made on her show the day after the pow-wow. She said "President" Bush was "glib", "articulate" and "spoke with clarity and confidence on a variety of topics".
Now, I ask you, seriously, does that sound the like President Bush we all know and cringe with horror at every time he speaks?
I'll post more later. Right now my tin-foil hat is buzzing. (I have to set it for vibrate so it won't bother Mrs. Eagle while she watches golf. I don't know why the theme song from The Twilight Zone bothers her but it does).
Ciao.
It’s Bush’s fault. That’s all the moonbat know.
Have you ever seen the money available from the feds that goes un-applied for?
I personally know of one case where funds were available for homeland security projects for the city I live in. The local politicians didn’t apply for it because it came with strings that said that it had to be spend on equipment for police and first responders (radios, surveillance, equipment, etc.) The local liberals wanted to put the funds into the slush fund to hand out for political favors and union raises.
Result = no funds.
These fools would rather do without than be told how earmarked funding is to be spent.
Funding is available for lots of things, but it actually has to be used for its intended purpose and it has to be applied for.
Speaking of messed-up priorities . . .
The city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and the state of Minnesota are spending something like $800M to $1B to build a stupid sports stadium less than a mile from where this bridge stood.
I see no reason for anyone outside that effing city to spend a nickel to rebuild the bridge.
Typical of a modern Dem, and fully expected. Yeah yeah yeah, "Bush's Fault" ..... grow up, Amy, this ain't the flower power 60's anymore.
As a total non-sequiter, I just found out my best friend’s sister drove under the bridge at 6:00, just 5 or 10 minutes before it went down.
We all know the real person responsible: George Bush.
If he actually cared about black people this bridge would still be standing.
AND NOW WE KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY...
IIRC, the bridge and highway maintenance money goes to the state, which decides how it will conduct the inspections, and sets the priorites for the repairs.
'Course the same idiots made the same fools of themselves after the Virginia Tech shooting, sooo...
Um, just to quibble... Doesn't the presence of the word "enough" in that statement mean that it would be true no matter what substance is being heaped? ie. Enough paperclips, Enough feathers, etc
I don’t understand. I kept seeing the Freeper here who somehow have the secret information that this is really a covered up Muslim terrorist attack and that THEY are just hiding it from us to protect Muslims.
‘Course the same idiots made the same fools of themselves after the Virginia Tech shooting, sooo...
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I’ve see a few of them on the threads,,,I think some folks are on a “hair-trigger” nowdays,,,me too,,,
That “need a plate bolted on half-assed-repair” just mite be the “SMOKIN’GUN”,,,
JMHO : The pot-holes/? in the roadway mite have been caused by the iron under it starting to give-way,,,
WHY DID IT NEED A “PLATE”...
Here’s what infuriates me about this whole debate (aside from leftists playing partisan politics while we still have bodies in the Mississippi River):
The terms of the debate have already been defined. I’m seeing reports of a special session to discuss bridges and infrastructure - which is fine - but its being couched in the terms of “how much should we raise taxes” by the liberal-compliant media. I’m reading “you can’t run a state on the cheap” and “taxes have to rise to pay for the needed repairs”.
We need to have an infrastructure debate, but there should be more to it than that. What ought to happen out of this whole tragedy is a top-to-bottom re-examination of ALL state spending. There is a reason Pawlenty was elected - twice - on a platform of no new taxes. It’s because the State of Minnesota wastes too much of what it gets, and taxes are simply too high.
I am not a big fan of Tim Pawlenty because I don’t believe he governs in the best interests of the entire state. Yet, I don’t blame him a scrap for vetoing a gas tax increase when the state is running a surplus. Does anyone remember why they had to float a constitutional amendment last year to spend vehicle sales taxes on road repair? It’s because we have a legislature that can’t stop spending on the wrong things.
A real, fair examination on how Minnesota chooses to spend tax money could very well find money to rededicate for infrastructure and along the way help restore some priorities in how our money is spent. Somehow, I don’t think that part of the debate will ever be held, and that is to the detriment not only of Minnesotans, but to all Americans.
BumP to what you said and said very well.
Thank you kindly. I’m just frustrated and what better place to vent than here?
May as well get your money’s worth, I always say.. ;-)
btw, I have a pile of family back in Minnesota so I welcome seeing comments like this and hope that more Minnesotans also seek a better accounting and prioritizing of their hard-earned and so readily confiscated income.
We’re a blaming culture now. Sadly, it seems that most people who suffer an accident liken it to winning lotto.
I read your background at the top of the thread. I’ve seen you on other threads but didn’t know you were a native Gopher. What part of the state?
I’m born and raised Ski-U-Mah. But starting to lose patience with people who can’t see past their own hatred to make political gain.
Was there ever any word on the missing bridge construction worker?
I guess they didn’t get enough pork fat to grease the joints.
P.S. : Just caught a snip on FOX-NEWS,,,:”They would have had to drill 1,000s of holes to install the plates,,,
That mite further weaken the bridge.”,,,WTH !!!
“Some cracks 4 ft. long.”,,,
on now.
Boy, he is getting uglier as he ages-—where the hell do the RATS get these peculiar looking people?-—the female RAT senator form Minnesota is a gooky looking gasbag as well-—sheesh
Not that I have heard so far. I’ll double check.
checked in the latest piece here, no specific mention of the worker..
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Toll from bridge collapse could be low
SHARON COHEN and ADAM GELLER, AP National Writers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070804/ap_on_re_us/bridge_collapse
MINNEAPOLIS - More than 100 cars and trucks and a school bus crawling bumper-to-bumper on a bridge that suddenly crashed into the Mississippi River seemed like a recipe for a massive death count. But on Friday came what this city’s fire chief called a miraculous turn of events: the prospect that relatively few lives were lost.
Divers still searched through the swirling, muddy currents for cars and bodies. However, the official death toll remained at five from Wednesday’s collapse, and authorities cast doubt on an earlier estimate that as many as 30 people were missing. They said it could even be as few as eight.
“speaking of messed up priorities-—”
Don’t you know the proper priorities?-—we must build new stadiums for the overpaid drunks,drug and steriod user athletes to play in while the games are officiated by cheating umpires who get ‘paid off’ by the gamblers—I would not spend a nickel to go see any sports play anymore for I suspect the whole system is rotten to the core —just follow the money!!!-(besides watching the tv I don’t have to listen to filthy mouthed drunks around me-)
“why did it need a plate-—?”
to properly serve up some of the transportation dollars to the thieving pols in Minnesota-—I believe it is a liberal RAT state, especially aftet seeing the RAT b-—h blaming it all on Bush, as per usual for a Dem-—if so-—that answers everything
I propose the bridge collapse began in 1964...with the “Great Society” programs of LBJ... While the need for Civil Rights was necessary at the time and was constitutional none of the other programs met the test. The reason we don’t have money now for basic infrastructure is that it has been, and will be continue to be spent, on social (read socialism) type programs.
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BINGO...
This is precisely the problem that both our Federal and State budgets are dealing with. They are being forced to fund UNConstitutional programs that never should have been created by the Federal government.
The little, wussy, four-eyed, punk, Keith Olbermann, is blaming the fact that all of our money is going to Iraq and there’s no money for bridge repair.
The guy is wacked; I tell you. The guy is wacked.
Our national budget approaches 3 Trillion a year.
“There is no money for bridge repair.” waaa waaaa.. OverBite
Nice socialist entitlements programs the left assembled over the last 75 years, eh? (folks fail to recognize the amounts spent on Defense have shrunk proportionally as the other programs grow like weeds)
Actually Norm, the finger pointing started before the sun set on the first day.
This is a FEDERAL Interstate; umm doesn’t the Federal government have responsibilty?
The 494 strip was wonderful in the 1970’s, wasn’t it?
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