Free Republic

The Minnesota Department of Transportation emergency response executive who failed to return to the state for 10 days after the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed was fired Friday for taking unauthorized trips, making excessive personal calls on her MnDOT cell phone and bringing embarrassment to the state.Staying away from crisis Kevin Hanretta, who was at a conference with Pitt when the bridge collapsed, told MnDOT's investigator that Pitt was torn between staying on the East Coast and returning to Minnesota. Hanretta told the investigator that Pitt decided to stay put because her staff was "doing a great job" and she was...

As is always the case, getting into a bidding war with big-spending liberals ends in defeat for conservatives. Especially when Democrats seem more willing than ever to exploit any calamity, however horrific, for political gain. Whether politicizing the Wellstone memorial, Hurricane Katrina or even the casualties of war, the motto of the majority party in Washington and St. Paul is now best described as "No Tragedy Left Behind." Indeed, no sooner had Minnesota's Interstate 35W bridge collapsed than our liberal elite starting pointing fingers -- and they've been doing it ever since. Led by the state's twin deacons of demagoguery,...

MINNEAPOLIS - As the estimated cost of recovering from an interstate bridge collapse surges past $400 million, survivors of the deadly disaster just wish they could get a few thousand dollars here and there to make ends meet. About 30 of the more than 100 people injured in the Aug. 1 collapse, which killed 13 people, meet weekly to talk about the troubles it's caused them. This past week, one man spoke of his struggles with a $41,000 medical bill. Others mentioned missed paychecks. That they've all had such problems getting aid irritated fellow survivor Kimberly J. Brown enough that...

The last victim of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse has been recovered from the water. The long, complex search for the disaster's cause is ramping up in earnest. It's about the time we'd expect the lawyers to descend. But the pinstripes are already out of the gate, setting new records for jumping the gun in a disaster. Just days after the collapse, while recovery crews were still battling treacherous waters, Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben -- one of the state's highest profile personal injury firms -- petitioned for access to the site for three attorneys and two expert witnesses. An immediate...

I just got an invite to the Midwestern ITE conference. It is being held in West Des Moines, IA this year on September 26th, 27th, and the morning of the 28th. A person from the MNDOT was scheduled to speak there before the I-35W collapse. They are planning to have him tentatively discuss the collapse instead of his originally planned topic. I will try to attend and, if so, let everyone know what he says. There will also be a breakout session on Red Light Cameras which should be interesting.

Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed Minnesota bridge over the Mississippi River also faced a less obvious enemy: Birds. Inspectors began documenting the buildup of pigeon dung on the span near downtown Minneapolis two decades ago. Experts say the corrosive guano deposited all over the span's framework helped the steel beams rust faster. Although investigators have yet to identify the cause of the bridge's Aug. 1 collapse, which killed at least 13 people and injured about 100, the pigeon problem is one of many factors that dogged the structure. "There...

Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed interstate bridge over the Mississippi River also faced a less obvious enemy: pigeons. Inspectors began documenting the buildup of pigeon dung on the span near downtown Minneapolis two decades ago. Experts say the corrosive guano deposited all over the Interstate 35W span's framework helped the steel beams rust faster...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed interstate bridge over the Mississippi River also faced a less obvious enemy: pigeons. Inspectors began documenting the buildup of pigeon dung on the span near downtown Minneapolis two decades ago. Experts say the corrosive guano deposited all over the Interstate 35W span's framework helped the steel beams rust faster. Although investigators have yet to identify the cause of the bridge's Aug. 1 collapse, which killed at least 13 people and injured about 100, the pigeon problem is one of...

Minneapolis I-35 bridge collapse: Failure Analysis The I-35 West bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, consisted of three trussed spans and several beam and post spans typical of 1960's era freeway construction. Analysis to date here at Free Republic has centered on looking for the triggering cause in the bridge collapse, and the sequence of failure, as determined by available pre- and post-collapse imagery and video. Efforts so far have been hampered by uncertainty regarding the condition and disposition of the eastern truss panels originally located above and near pier 6. I hope to rectify this uncertainty and...

President George W. Bush arrived in the Twin Cities at approximately 4:26 p.m. aboard Air Force One at the International Airport's Air Reserve Station. Following a 15-minute closed-door briefing on recovery efforts related to the I-35W bridge collapse and flash flooding in southeastern Minnesota Bush departed for for a private political fundraiser on behalf of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman. On hand to meet with Bush at the airport were Gov. Tim Pawlenty and First Lady Mary Pawlenty, Coleman, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann, John Kline, Keith Ellison, Tim Walz and Betty McCollum and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. Following...

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office has confirmed the body of Greg Jolstad, 45, of Mora, has been recovered from the site of the 35W bridge collapse. The recovery brings the total number of confirmed deaths, and recovered victims, to 13. No more victims are believed to remain in the wreckage of the collapse.

In the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's approval rating has climbed to its highest level recorded during his tenure in office, a new poll shows. The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA over the past weekend, found that 59 percent of Minnesotans approve of the job Pawlenty is doing at a time when the aftermath of the collapse has thrust him into the national spotlight. By comparison, 37 percent of Minnesotans disapprove of his job performance and 4 percent have no opinion. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

At least seven people died, and he voted for the aid. But that didn’t stop U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski from suggesting Minnesota is trying to “screw” the rest of the country out of federal funding for its collapsed Interstate bridge, generating a firestorm among political bloggers. Comments the Nanticoke Democrat made Tuesday at a regional economic forum at the University of Scranton were posted on political Web logs, or “blogs,” touching off the controversy. “His comments are grossly inappropriate. He needs to apologize to the victims’ families for his rude comments,” a contributor wrote on one Web site. During...

Two failed bridges. Two scarily similar scenarios. Last week, the Interstate 35W span over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed under the weight of rush-hour traffic and construction crews. Federal investigators now wonder whether the design of steel plates joining beams is to blame. Eleven years earlier, the eastbound I-90 bridge over the Grand River in Lake County (Ohio) failed. The reason: the same steel plates, called gussets. They had corroded, then buckled after crews blasted them during painting preparations. But while the Minnesota catastrophe has shaken the nation and prompted warnings to states to inspect other truss bridges and...

"How long will it take," I thought, as I watched the coverage of the collapsed bridge outside of Minneapolis, "before someone blames President George W. Bush?" It turns out, not long. As divers attempted to locate possible victims submerged in the murky waters of the Mississippi, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) said, "I think we should look at this tragedy that occurred as a wake-up call for us. We have -- all over the country -- crumbling infrastructure, highways, bridges, dams, and we really need to take a hard look at this." Calling it "the right thing to...

For some, too far is never far enough....

Taxation: Always ready to use a tragedy to raise taxes, the Democrats want to hike the gas tax in the aftermath of the Minneapolis bridge collapse. The country should be pleased that President Bush rejects the idea. Democrat Rep. Jim Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has proposed a 5-cent increase on the 18.3 cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax. The Minnesota congressman says that over three years the extra nickel would raise $25 billion that would be placed in a new trust fund from which money would be drawn to repair or replace structurally deficient highway bridges. We're not saying...

I just received a copy of the last bridge inspection report on the bridge that collapsed in Minnesota last week. While there is no smoking gun, it points to MANY possible failure points. Where I am coming from is this: I am a Certified FHWA bridge inspector and have additional training in fracture critical bridges (which this bridge was). I am mainly concentrating on the center section, since that is where the failure started. The report was dated June 2006. It is 50 pages long. Interestingly, it was NOT done by a private engineering firm (like mine) while under contract...

Among the dozens of wrenching accounts to come out of the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, the actions of 20-year-old Jeremy Hernandez were a bright spot: [ . . . ] Mr. Hernandez had recently been forced to drop out of an automotive repair program because he could not afford the $15,000 tuition. [ . . . ] That has changed. On Saturday, Mr. Hernandez learned that Dunwoody College of Technology had offered him a full scholarship toward a degree in applied science. [ . . . ] When President Bush’s staff contacted him to request a...

Bridge Politics Unless we change the way we fund our highways, infrastructure will continue to crumble. Jim Peron | August 8, 2007 Politicians are drawn to tragedy like flies to pie. Take the Minneapolis bridge collapse. You have to wonder what makes this a federal responsibility. The typical excuse is that the state can't afford such pricey projects, so it behooves the federal government to step in to help. Whatever Minnesota's spending constraints, the state can apparently afford to spend hundreds of millions for corporate welfare to Carl Pohlad, the owner of the Minnesota Twins, for a new baseball stadium....