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Breaking: Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis
KSTP TV 5/ME | 8/1/07 | Me

Posted on 08/01/2007 4:28:27 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo

Just turned on the news. 35W bridge collapsed in the Mississippi River. Cars, trucks, semis.....

Fires burning, tanker trucks, at least one school bus, more than ten cars......

Just now breaking.......


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: Minnesota
KEYWORDS: 35w; breaking; bridge; bridgecollapse; bridges; btld; collapse; corrosion; engineering; infrastructure; jihad; minneapolis; mosques; mothman; prayerforminnesotans; rust; slownewsday; terroristattack; transportation; twincitiescell
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To: Straight Vermonter
but over the much smaller pier set farther back from the water

You mean near the smashed train cars? Has freight train derailment been ruled out, or considered?

1,541 posted on 08/01/2007 8:55:46 PM PDT by glock rocks (Please pray every day for our Patriot Armed Forces fighting to protect our way of life.)
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To: jeffers; concretebob

Both of your analyses are good.


1,542 posted on 08/01/2007 8:55:59 PM PDT by txhurl
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To: 1COUNTER-MORTER-68

Salt on decks corrodes rebar in the deck. Drainage systems on bridge decks divert all storm water away from the structural elements. (but it does look like an upper chord failure, at a support bent. The weakest point on a cantilever is over the support bents)


1,543 posted on 08/01/2007 8:57:05 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Turning the general election into a second Democrat primary is not a winning strategy.)
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To: captjanaway

“I heard him, too... I AM concerned about bridges just falling in the water - if it is NOT terrorism (and the fact that the Dept of Homeland Security so quickly said it wasn’t is a little suspect to me.”


I recall the DHS warning us of this very thing. Now when it occurs, they are the first to say it wasn’t.


1,544 posted on 08/01/2007 8:57:25 PM PDT by takenoprisoner (Forfeiture of liberty for alleged security undermines our credibility as a free nation.)
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To: 1COUNTER-MORTER-68

I had heard that part of the construction project involved a deicing system for the bridge surface.


1,545 posted on 08/01/2007 8:57:31 PM PDT by cleveland gop (Conservative does not mean centrist. FDT '08! Way to go Padraig!)
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To: Strategerist
Produce a quote where an official has "ruled out" terrorism in this collapse.

Not that the words "there are no indications of" have a different meaning than "ruled out."

Spare us the Clintonic parsing.

They made a statement -- artfully crafted, I will concede -- aimed at conveying a particular sentiment.

I chose to address the message they worked to convey, you opted to fall back on "the exact wording" (if I might be so brazen as to invoke The Words of Clinton, when caught up by his own petard).

That they left themselves an "out", should circumstances leave them no opportunity to "stay on message" -- an "out" allowing them to Clintonize with something along the lines of, "I think that if you'll go back and check my precise wordking, you'll find that..." -- I don't find that particularly admirable, nor do I think it in any real way negates the message they worked to convey with their present phrasing.

The "art" of saying one thing while making it sound like something else is being said, has become increasingly acceptable since the Clinton era. That is, at least in some quarters.

1,546 posted on 08/01/2007 8:57:54 PM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: Straight Vermonter

Straight Vermonter wrote:
The problem began on the right side of that picture.

I agree. Based on some of the other pictures I have seen I would speculate that the problem started not
over the pier closest to the water but over the much smaller pier set farther back from the water.

I can’t say one way or another. The main span seems to have sheared on both ends and dropped straight down, but a side span problem may have initiated the failure.

Whatever started it, structurally, there’s nothing left of that pier or the steelwork. Excessive live load and/or failure transferred dead load, all of it point loaded on that pier, is going to have to be at least contributory.


1,547 posted on 08/01/2007 8:59:23 PM PDT by jeffers
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To: HairOfTheDog; Fester Chugabrew
It seems like very concise, clear English to me too.

Depending, of course, on what "is" is...

1,548 posted on 08/01/2007 8:59:34 PM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: mware

Roger that. Lets just hold our breath and pray that the problem is because of something akin to what you mention.


1,549 posted on 08/01/2007 9:00:10 PM PDT by raygun (The decision for or against Jn 3:16 is only THE biggest one that you'll ever make.)
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To: All

Thank you to a special freepmailer for pointing to this article:

http://img.iht.com/images/2007/08/02/02bridge550.jpg

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/02/america/02cndbridge.php

“Bridge collapse in Minneapolis kills at least 6”

By Libby Sander and Susan Saulny
Published: August 1, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the eight lanes of I-35W crossing the river were supposed to be restricted to a much reduced flow beginning on Tuesday night for the northbound lanes and at 8 p.m. Wednesday for the southbound lanes, about two hours after the collapse. The reason stated on the agency’s Web site was “overlay work,” which refers to roadway resurfacing.

A 2001 evaluation of the bridge, prepared for the state transportation department by the University of Minnesota Civil Engineering Department, reported that there were preliminary signs of fatigue on the steel truss section under the roadway, but no cracking. It said there was no need for the transportation department to replace the bridge because of fatigue cracking.”


1,550 posted on 08/01/2007 9:00:20 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: burzum
Hey,,,How much SALT is used on that bridge in the winter ??...
The bridge had an automatic deicing system. Of course, cars could track salt onto the bridge which could eventually drain into the supports. Chloride corrosions are some of the worst types of corrosion known (especially chloride stress corrosion cracking). Presumably the State would inspect/clean periodically to prevent corrosion failures. Of course, that still needs to be determined (if it was actually the cause).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TANKS a bunch for that info,,,I had no idea,,,I’m way down in Louisiana,,,When we get ice they go krazy with the salt around here,,,The 1933 bridge over the Red River(Shreveport)
is in bad shape,,,Two ‘60 bridges just south of that one are/have being totally replaced...
1,551 posted on 08/01/2007 9:00:22 PM PDT by 1COUNTER-MORTER-68 (THROWING ANOTHER BULLET-RIDDLED TV IN THE PILE OUT BACK~~~~~)
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To: idkfa

Thak you for your critique of my theory.

One lane was closed.

Has the bridge ever had bumper to bumper traffic? Yes.
Has it had it when one lane has had the concrete ground away and new concrete is being poured by numerous concrete trucks, concentrating heavier than normal loads on it? Not that I know of.

There were concrete trucks, one of them was halfway in the river at a key point of the collapse.

Sorry the news folks aren’t showing this to you right now, probably because it’s DARK right now.

The ‘concrete structure portion’ landed on top of the train. Ya think maybe it could have failed ???? Shifted???? Added to the combined factors to produce this disaster.

As for center piers, look at the bridge next to it, and look at pictures of this one before the collapse.

SEE ANY PIER IN MIDSTREAM????

I anxiously await your informed response.


1,552 posted on 08/01/2007 9:00:45 PM PDT by UCANSEE2
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To: ButThreeLeftsDo; Abigail Adams

Thanks...it is good news. And I give my regards to all others who are affected by this, regardless of whether it involves friend, relative or even an acquaintance.

It’s so easy to be indifferent to an event that may happen in a different locality - unfortunately, we all at one point or another think that something like this will never happen (”Not in my back yard!”). But when something does happen, one takes stock of their attitude and begins to appreciate the frailty of our existence.

(OK, I’m done being philosophical now!)


1,553 posted on 08/01/2007 9:01:35 PM PDT by dave k (Unplug the spin machine...)
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To: Palladin

Homeland Security already declared this to be a non -terrorist event. Two hours after the collapse. With not one little bit of inspection or investigation. They are all psychics over there at HS...or all psychos.
What? You would question your Leaders?

The shame, the shame!

1,554 posted on 08/01/2007 9:02:31 PM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: jeffers

Looks like the north end of the bridge was just responding to the collapse, from what I read. Pics of the south side show lots of twisted metal, and it seems the bridge deck is slanted sideways. Does this mesh with your theory?


1,555 posted on 08/01/2007 9:03:00 PM PDT by Abigail Adams
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To: Cindy

Thanks for all your great work tonight, Cindy.....


1,556 posted on 08/01/2007 9:04:03 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (Tracking The "Flyin' Imams" since 11/20/06)
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To: The Legionary

The water there is between 30-40ft deep there.


1,557 posted on 08/01/2007 9:04:26 PM PDT by miliantnutcase
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To: DCBryan1; DrGunsforHands

Methinks it was a 40 year old (relatively new) UNION built bridge.
OK, case closed.

We've got all the bases covered now.

One band declares that it's the bridge, because it's an old bridge, and the other declares that it's the bridge because it's a new bridge.

The one consistent theme is that it is "the bridge", and thus, it cannot be terrorism-related.

Ain't logic grand?

1,558 posted on 08/01/2007 9:05:46 PM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: spunkets
“Hey,,,How much SALT is used on that bridge in the winter ??.”
Apparently none. It has a PVC plumbed system for dispensing a deicing fluid(iceban) over the deck. I assume the fluid is an organic alcohol, or glycol type. THe only MSDS I found for it was ridiculous and said it was “a pure” liquid, with 80% water and the rest organic. I think MN and the other states use the generic. The IceBan co seems to be bankrupt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This seems to point toward corrosion...
1,559 posted on 08/01/2007 9:05:46 PM PDT by 1COUNTER-MORTER-68 (THROWING ANOTHER BULLET-RIDDLED TV IN THE PILE OUT BACK~~~~~)
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To: Don Joe
The "art" of saying one thing while making it sound like something else is being said, has become increasingly acceptable since the Clinton era. That is, at least in some quarters.

Oh bull.. It's you trying to parse it into something it isn't... "No indications of" means exactly what it means. That there are no indications yet. I think it's you, not they, who are trying to convey something that is not in evidence.

1,560 posted on 08/01/2007 9:05:55 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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