What do you guys think about this?

Question

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bridge.collapse/index.html
This story is so sad. I'm always afraid of bridges like these, because I imagine that it would collapse like this. I wonder why the city didn't reconstuct the bridge if it was in bad condition. I've heard articles state that it was because of the dramatic weather changes, that the cement started to crack. I just hope something like this wouldn't happen to me, or anybody else for that matter!

Actually, the article states that they were reconstructing the bridge. But why in the world would they allow cars to still go on the bridge?!

Yes Selin abla, it is very tragic.

I've just watched the news;the number of fatalities increased from 7 to 9. There are still many victims that are missing.

Selin- I'm younger than 20 :-)

YabanciKiz-I'm glad to hear that your friends/family are safe, considering you live in that area.

Answer 1

It's my understanding they had one lane of traffic going each way because the bridge was the centerpiece of most people's commutes. It was the bridge connecting minneapollis to st. paul (I think). I'm willing to bet that the weight of the semi-truck, the school bus and all the construction equipment was over the weight limit of the already compromised bridge and the whole thing just gave way.

It's horrible, and I heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones in this tragedy.

Answer 2

This is horrible and happened in my hometown. To correct an earlier poster, this was the bridge going over the Mississippi, connecting the East and West Banks of Minneapolis. Many of my relatives live nearby the bridge collapse in the "Nordeast" neighborhood. As far as I know, people with whom I've kept in contact over the past 10 years are okay, but there's always the chance that old high school friends may have been caught up in the tragedy.

According to the Star-Tribune, the Minneapolis newspaper, an assessment had been done of this swath of Interstate-35 a couple of years ago by the US Department of Transportation that determined it needed improvement. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a royal wanker if I ever saw one, categorically denied that the bridge needed repairs, and likely channelled this much-needed tax money towards faith-based initiatives or tax breaks for Cargill.

EDIT: Redcandy--Thanks for your support. :-) I don't live in Minneapolis anymore; that's where I was born and raised. I live in Istanbul now.

Answer 3

I live in Minnesota. We were not doing construction to the bridge. We were resurfacing it.

In Minnesota it gets far below zero degrees celcius in the winter. Like 20 to 30 degrees below.

The were repaving the top of the bridge and working on the de-icing (keeps ice from forming on the bridge in the winter because the water from snow and vapor from the river beneath.)

But, we have over 100,000 bridges in the USA. We do not take care of them.

Because we are stupid. We would rather wast 1,000,000s of dollars a day on invading Iraq and Afghanistan - then fixing our own country.

Fixing bridges is the job of the USA government - not the city or state. Sadly, our government is broke. Because we waste $12 billion US dollars every month in iraq.

Just like the hurricane in New orleans. They could have fixed the dikes and levies for less than 1 billion dollars and that would have never happened. Instead, they would rather ship men and women to Iraq with billions of dollars in missles, ships and bullets - instead of save our own country.

Do not look up to the USA. WE ARE STUPID HERE. There are 70,000 bridges in this country that are in the same or worse shape than the bridge in my home town. Its just a matter of time before another one falls.Or, another hurricane floods a major city.

(GOD SAVE THESE STREETS - QUIT BEING CHEAP - YOUR FREEDOM AINT FREE)...

Answer 4

this is shocking . We watch documentary programs on the TV sometımes showing how they construct these bridges and we see that they always think of the slightest things on security and etc.

and it is really unfortunate and sad for those people

Answer 5

Oh boy. After reading YabanciKiz's answer, how can I not hate all politicians? It's so sad, people dying because somebody has concerns in mind other than the good of the people.

Answer 6

Yes this is horrible. I always think of this when going over bridges, especially the Fatih Sultan in Turkey. Allah korusun

Answer 7

It's very terrible. And the worst thing is this kind of disasters going on and we -the people- don't learn anything from these tragedies. God bless all of us. I kinda hope If such disasters will happen at least they won't kill anyone.

Answer 8

Hi Redcany,

It is really bad and sad situation ...
Nationality does not matter, Pain is always Pain ...

Regards

Answer 9

i am so sorry . i watched it this morning. you don't know whats gonna happen next minute in this life

Answer 10

another tragedy