Snippets from local media:
New at 11:27 p.m.:Road crews had been working on the 40-year-old bridge's deck, joints, guardrails and lights this week. "None of it would be related to the structure," said Bob McFarlin, assistant to Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau.
New at 11:05 p.m.:State Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Steve Murphy said the condition of bridges in Minnesota generally has been a topic of concern, but he couldn't recall the Interstate 35W Mississippi River bridge coming up during those discussions.
"I know the work that many of the bridge inspectors do for the state of Minnesota, and we do really good work," said Murphy, DFL-Red Wing. "If they said that that bridge in 2006 was in good shape, I believe it was in good shape. What happened today, it's probably going to be weeks or months before we know."
New at 10:20 p.m.:Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the bridge was inspected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2005 and 2006 and that no structural problems were noted. "There were some minor things that needed attention," he said.
Mpls. Police Chief Tim Dolan: Do not believe it was an act of terrorism and they interviewing everyone who was near the bridge or on the bridge.
Pawlenty said investigations will continue and that in all likely hood it was structural failure
[The above gets the award for brazen coyness, particularly coming on the heels of the one below.]
New at 9:16 p.m.:Pawlenty said no structural problems identified in bridge in 2004-2006 (from mndot inspection)
New at 9:05 p.m.:"It sounded like a bomb and we ducked," said one man who works at a gas station near the collapse.
New at 8:42 p.m.:Concrete work was being done on the bridge but nothing that would distrupt the structure, according to [civil engineer Richard] Stehly.
[This next one gets the Early Bird Award for prompt delivery of the rote party line.]New at 7:57 p.m.:
Paul McCabe, a spokesman with the FBI in Minneapolis, said agents responded to the bridge and would conduct any necessary investigations.
"Although it is much too early to make any determination of the cause, we have no reason at this time to believe there is any nexus to terrorism," he said.
...
According to a structural engineer who spoke with WCCO-TV's Don Shelby, it doesn't appear to be a concrete failure but that the steel failed.[The second 7:57 snippet above also gets an Early Bird Award, as well as a Meritorious Conduct Notation for coming up with a precise explanation while "The Experts" were claiming various contradictory causes, or -- in most cases -- a total *lack* of understanding of cause (other than of course it "Not Being Terrorism"(tm).]
The final 7:57 sub-snippet:A maintenance project began about nine months ago repairing potholes and other concrete on the bridge. According to a spokesperson from the Mn-DOT, there was no work on the actual structure under the bridge.
Last night an eyewitness reported that a sheriff’s car was blocking a hole that appeared to have been drilled into the concrete of one of the lanes and his buddy commented that “this looks suspicious” prior to the disaster.