[Rhodes22-list] Hey Slim - New Bridge

[Steven Alm]

Yup, the report from NTSB Chairman, Mark Rodenker came out yesterday and the
current administration (chastised for cutting bridge maintenance funding) is
jumping for joy because now they think nothing could have been done to
prevent the collapse since inspectors look for deterioration and not design
flaws.  Personally, I'm not ready to let them off the hook that easily.  It
seems to me that the undersized gusset plates alone did not cause the fall.
It had to have been a combination of any number of problems like exceeding
the load limit by way more than it was built for back in the 60s, frozen
roller bearings meant to move with heat/cold expansion/contraction (it was
91 degrees that day), lack of engineering redundancy, and yes, corrosion and
cracks in the gusset plates and elsewhere, missing bolts (?!) and so on.
The bridge did indeed have a safety rating of "critical" and should have
been closed.  Already one head had rolled but Gov. Pawlenty still has a lot
of slpanin' to do.  The finger pointing continues.

Then there's the issue of how the new bridge builder got the contract.  It
was all done on the QT behind closed doors.  Many saw a chance to put up a
big, bold statement of memorial along the lines of our beautiful Hennepin
bridge:   http://www.visi.com/~jweeks/bridges/pages/ms19.html  but no, we're
getting an understated flat ribbon.

Meanwhile, the families of the 13 dead and 100 injured have received almost
no help from anywhere.  That's an outrage!  Most of those families are
devastated and need and deserve our support.  Congress stepped up and sent
some $250M for rebuilding but nothing is going to the victims.

Stay tuned for plenty of drama yet to unfold.

Slim

On Jan 17, 2008 9:36 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Slim,
>
> You might find this article on the MSP bridge interesting.
>
> http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/transportation/4245065.html
>
> My brother called this one correctly fifteen minutes after it happened.
>
> Brad
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