WOW, my parents just told me about this. This made it to the Russian news. It was all over the TV here.
I was going to St Paul this morning and decided to take University instead of the traffic on 94 and came by 35 and omg the bridge look so scary(but it was very cool inaway). I feel like its in a movie or something.
I just got off the phone with my friend who's car is the silver honda in the lower rightpart of this photo - teetering on the edge behind the bus.
yeah, *she* said that she has some back/chest pain, but is ok for the most part. She thought her life was over, and may need some down time, but she seemed calm enough when we were on the phone. She said that there isn't any way to put into words the feeling like you're about to die, and you can't do anything about it.
Tell me about it, I was stuck on that same bridge the day before (and around the same time too) :ugh:
I drove by it on my way back from St Paul on a parts run. It's pretty sobering, to say the least. I just got word from a friend of mine that she hasn't been able to get in touch with her brother who was supposed to be in the area around that time.
I was there last night. Responded with MNTF-1 (usar team). It was quite the mess. We were there primarily to perform recovery work, as most (if not all) of the rescue work was accomplished by then. I arrived on scene around 7:45 but we got moved about a bit. Got to drive past a Black Hawk sitting on the bridge, certainly not a sight you see every day. We ended up extricating a victim from a car on the north side of the river and also performing some recon work on the north side. We are waiting to hear if we will go back over the next day or so, but the longer we wait the less likely we will be called. If anything it would probably be to shore up the pieces so they dont move any more, to aid in further recovery efforts. Like many others, my prayers go out to the family/friends of all involved (of course including the rescue workers). Lots of lives are effected by this in many different ways.
Sure there is: "90 right over yump don't cut" as the driver is yelling out "only ******s lift!" Sorry, felt the need for some levity... I can't imagine what it would be like to be helpless like that. I've had a few brushes with death but you don't think about it until after it happens. Teetering on a collapsed bridge would probably give you some seconds (which felt like an eternity I bet) to think about your impending doom
HA HA. I've right seated for Karl Biewald, man. I've got some video with me yelling "Low water bridge, um... um... $H1T, NOW!!!!!" then the slight rumble of rally tires locked on gravel, BAM!!! as the video camera goes blurry for a second. Ground, sky, ground, sky, ground.... Driver "I think we lost a light." oil light is flashing and buzzing and the crank is bashing the pi$$ out of the oil pan baffle. "PULL OVER!" I say in a daze as the 5 pint harness friction starts to burn itself into my chest... (If anyone can take a High8 video and turn it into an electronic file, I'll post it) My friend who fell with the bridge just left our place. I made dinner for her and supplied her with a nice cold beer. Her 1st hand account of the events were bone chilling to say the least. It's crazy to think that one of my close friends was THAT close to death or serious injury, and is walking around telling her story which is being broadcast all over the world. Amazing that she's alive and well. We're still praying and thinking about all involved. I can't donate blood, but did donate $50 to the red cross this morning. -ted
Has there been a final death toll? I haven't heard. BTW i'm coming to the cities through that way tomorrow. How is traffic witht hat bridge out? Should I allow some extra time?
The bridge was dead this morning. Once more people start to figure out it's open again I'd imagine the other routes will go back to normal.
Yeah, hardly any traffic when I drove across it today, but it was a bit later, around 9:00am. It was nice to take my old route to work again. The bridge does feel a different than the old one, a lot less flat, that's for sure. The bridge surface doesn't look new, it's kindof uneven color and dark. The bridge looks a lot better from underneath than it does driving over it. Anyway, I'm glad it's done.
I rode by it 2 weekends ago when I was there. I got chills because I knew one of the victims. The guy Paul that was driving the bread truck I met several times when I worked for a local chip company here in Chicago. My boss came from the Bread Industry and introduced me to Paul. I'm glad the new bridge is safe and that wont happen there ever again.
i heard the new bridge has these monitors or cameras or sensors or something hooked up all over the place to keep the bridge monitored
yup^^ 93x half assed morning show ftw also i posted a thread about his but it didnt get much interest check this **** out its crazzzy! and make sure you WATCH the intro http://www.startribune.com/local/12166286.html
Most bridges do, they are called strain gauges. They measure the amount of flex something is seeing at any given time.
The new 35w bridge goes beyond what most bridges have, it has a system with hundreds of sensors. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/09/17/smart_bridge/
Most of the sensors are what's known as strain gauges. "Strain gauges measure a change in length over time. For example when the bridge deflects and curves, you would see an elongation of the bottom fibers shortening of the top fibers and that gauge would collect that reading," French says. I just assumed that they were using these, as I have used them for stress testings at school and they work amazing!
Yeah cruised over this afternoon. Like Joel said its got more of an arc to it and it doesn't look or feel brand new. The lanes must be really wide cause some a-hole thought it would be a good idea to share a lane with me(on my bike) After a few hand gestures and some head shaking I think he felt pretty sorry for it though.
also I am sure the surface is like that for a reason, as traffic continues over it it will wear smooth
The lane markings were just hard to see when I drove over it, they don't stand out because of the color of the surface, and it was in perfect weather, in bad one its gonna be even worse. I hope they fix that.
