WI - 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapses!

[panthera]

PCI was the contractor doing the work. Media pulled up 9 different violations on them..........none since 2005.

On Nancy Grace tonight a reporter supposedly asked them if they were using jack hammers PCI refused to answer. I tried so hard to call in & tell Nancy yes they were using them.

Like hubby says they're all going to try to COA.

I'd heard about the jackhammers too but then it was reportedly denied, and that all they were doing was "resurfacing". That would sure help to explain what happened. Maybe the jackhammer hit an important part of the structure underneath?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Well, I am feeling Oh-so-safe here in my state now! Check it out...We are on the top of the worst bridges list in the nation!

An analysis of 2006 Federal Highway Administration data found that Minnesota bridges were generally in better shape than those in other states. Only about 6 percent of the state's 20,000 bridges were listed as being structurally deficient. In Oklahoma, nearly 27 percent of bridges were cited by the federal government as being structurally deficient, the highest percentage among the states.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/02/ap3983762.html

A huge percentage of those are termed "obsolete", too! Sheesh!

Of course, I remember driving over bridges like this on a school bus, then later on when I first got my license!! The boards would creak underneath you and if you drove off the main boards...you could almost feel the wood splinter under the tires! It was scary stuff.

http://okbridges.wkinsler.com/birdcreek7.html

 

[cheko1]

I pray nothing happens ~ we'd miss you!! What's amazing to me about this bridge is it really doesn't span that much water compared with other bridges that are much longer and face more severe winds and climate changes.

Me too panthera.......

Really it doesn't. Nobody who drives it could believe it happened. Its totally unreal.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

PCI was the contractor doing the work. Media pulled up 9 different violations on them..........none since 2005.

On Nancy Grace tonight a reporter supposedly asked them if they were using jack hammers PCI refused to answer. I tried so hard to call in & tell Nancy yes they were using them.

Like hubby says they're all going to try to COA.

NG doesn't ask a question she doesn't already know the answer to! She KNEW they had been using jackhammers! She will nail em to the wall on it later, I am sure!

 

[cheko1]

I'd heard about the jackhammers too but then it was reportedly denied, and that all they were doing was "resurfacing". That would sure help to explain what happened. Maybe the jackhammer hit an important part of the structure underneath?

My son had just went across the bridge & he seen the guys jack hammering. He said he seen them removing row bar. It was on the south side of the bridge too.

 

[panthera]

Me too panthera.......

Really it doesn't. Nobody who drives it could believe it happened. Its totally unreal.

How heartwarming ~ another story of a survivor on CNN. The young man who is a paraplegic and had the presence of mind to drive the front of his van into a wall to stop it but he couldn't get out of the van in his wheelchair or it would've gone off the edge. He had back pain and with no way to get to the hospital today someone from CNN took him there.

 

[cheko1]

NG doesn't ask a question she doesn't already know the answer to! She KNEW they had been using jackhammers! She will nail em to the wall on it later, I am sure!

When I couldn't get in when I called / I emailed her!!! :slap: LOL She knows now!

 

[panthera]

My son had just went across the bridge & he seen the guys jack hammering. He said he seen them removing row bar. It was on the south side of the bridge too.

OMG! That sure would explain a lot of things and also why it's being treated as a crime scene. There must be someone, maybe from the NTSB, who knows the bridge wouldn't have "just collapsed".

 

[panthera]

When I couldn't get in when I called / I emailed her!!! :slap: LOL She knows now!

Good for you! :clap: I thought there was something odd going on when the story kept changing last night.

 

[cheko1]

They are having extra local news coverage. Some of the stories have made me cry.......

They told about some people who were trapped & it was known they'd not make it out. They asked if there was soemthing they could do to help them & they asked if they'd call someone from there family with a message & they did. About broke my heart.

 

[cheko1]

OMG! That sure would explain a lot of things and also why it's being treated as a crime scene. There must be someone, maybe from the NTSB, who knows the bridge wouldn't have "just collapsed".

I think it was something more then the work being done. The bridge broke into 5 or 6 pieces.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Rebar is a reinforcement for cement. It is as implies...a series of steel bars or rods usually in a crossed square pattern.

Replacing rebar and concrete shouldn't have been a problem as this is done routinely. Several jackhammers (8), the train underneath, the cars nearly stopped adding a concentrated amount of weight to an already strained bridge could be a problem tho.

 

[panthera]

I think it was something more then the work being done. The bridge broke into 5 or 6 pieces.

I was thinking of a domino effect but like I said I know nothing about engineering! I just hope they get the answers so this doesn't happen again.

 

[panthera]

Rebar is a reinforcement for cement. It is as implies...a series of bars usually in a crossed square pattern.

Replacing rebar and concrete shouldn't have been a problem as this is done routinely. Several jackhammers, the train underneath, the cars nearly stopped adding a concentrated amount of weight to an already strained bridge could be a problem tho.

Like excess weight and vibration from the jackhammers and the trains. That might be what some were talking about the "rumbling" noise ~ something similar to an earthquake but it was actually caused by the construction crew & train?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

No, I think the rumbling noise was the bridge actually vibrating itself and had nothing to do with the other things at all. It was "quivering" before it thrust upward releasing the energy before crashing down.

There could be so many factors in this. They will know so much more after they run that video through their program to be able to "see" into the bridge. (I would LOVE to see that program in use!) The way the man described it...it will literally peel off layers so they can go to the core of the bridge and pinpoint the failure site. How cool is that? Now that is some CSI technology at work!

 

[Marthatex]

Since this bridge had been deemed "insufficient", it seems like the weight load on it should have been regulated.

If we can afford billion dollar baseball fields and state-of-the art football stadiums for high schoolers; surely we can afford to have safe roadways and bridges.

 

[cheko1]

Like excess weight and vibration from the jackhammers and the trains. That might be what some were talking about the "rumbling" noise ~ something similar to an earthquake but it was actually caused by the construction crew & train?

From what I understand the noise was something really unusual. Some today called it a deafening roar....... like an earthquake. Trains are common & jack hammars are too.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Sure seems like it. Doesn't it, Marthatex? How about that $19 Million toilet we are putting in the space station?! Don't forget about that little jewel! Maybe that Astronaut had a good idea wearing the diapers...just a hint...Depends are a heck of a lot cheaper than $19 million! LOL

 

[cheko1]

Since this bridge had been deemed "insufficient", it seems like the weight load on it should have been regulated.

If we can afford billion dollar baseball fields and state-of-the art football stadiums for high schoolers; surely we can afford to have safe roadways and bridges.

Martha,

The weight on the bridge was being regulated. They had 4 lanes shut down 2 in each direction.

I agree they need safer conditions for us to drive on.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Since this bridge had been deemed "insufficient", it seems like the weight load on it should have been regulated.

I believe it was regulated...but for moving traffic which would distribute the weight load across the span differently.