Minnesotans live in Minnesota because they like keeping their feet on terra firma. They also make assumptions that terra firma is going to remain "firma" and not shake about like it does in California. Minnesotans make the same assumption about the bridges that cross our rivers. Being the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" means there will be a few rivers flowing between those lakes and bridges are a necessity to getting from here to there.
But today . . . I don't know how many times I have been stalled in traffic on a highway bridge and felt it bounce as heavy trucks drove by. The cradle like sway of the bridge makes one wonder if it's going to remain solid or if that bounce might give way to a crash. I wonder if those 50 some vehicles on the 35W bridge today questioned the same thing.
Bridges are one of those things we've come to take for granted. They're solid and secure. We whiz over that great expanse of water and look off in the distance toward our destination. We never think about the structure that holds not only our own half ton vehicle, but the many other half ton vehicles as well. Daily the bridges take our abuse. Daily they sway and bounce.
Today the 35W bridge over the Mississippi not only swayed and bounced but completely collapsed. Something went terribly wrong and the people who went down with the bridge today will never forget it. Some did not live to remember it, but their loved ones will. We grieve with those who have been impacted by this loss today.
Tomorrow commuters will experience an entirely different impact from the fallen bridge. Commuters will have to configure a different commute. They'll have to find different bridges across the mighty Mississippi. Buses are being added for park and ride lots in the northern suburbs in the hopes that commuters will leave their cars in the burbs. Our street grid system will be tested to the max by thousands of cars looking for alternate routes to downtown.
But tonight, we stand in shock as twin sisters with a severed umbilical cord.
For commute information check the City of Minneapolis website. For ways to help go to the Red Cross website. Alternate routes are posted at the MNDOT website.
May God comfort the injured and the families of those that perished.
Posted by: Greg Perry | August 02, 2007 at 11:37 AM