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I-35W Bridge Collapse

post #1 of 17
8/1/07 at 5:34pm
Thread Starter 
I just saw this on CNN.com. I know we have many members in the Twin Cities region; is everyone okay??

As someone who's always had a fear of bridges, this is a horrible to contemplate.
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post #2 of 17
8/1/07 at 6:27pm
Well I'm fine, but stressed like crazy. My friend Joe travels that bridge every Wed. at 5pm and then back home at 9:30pm.
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post #3 of 17
8/2/07 at 5:17am
I'm ok too. I've only been on that bridge a very few times over the last 37 years I've lived in the Twin Cities.

But bridges always make me nervous too. The bridge over the Mississippi from Marshall Avenue in St Paul that connects Lake Street in Minneapolis was under construction. One afternoon, we crossed the part of the old bridge, only to get home and found that the new bridge portion had collapsed just minutes after we had crossed!

That was quite a few years ago, but it was a very high bridge and looking down at the river so far beneath always gave me a near case of vertigo.

doc
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post #4 of 17
8/2/07 at 8:22am
Thread Starter 
What do you call bridge-phobia??

Deltadoc, you'll know what I mean when I say the Arsenal Bridge between Rock Island and Davenport in the Quad Cities.... I had nightmares as a child that the swingspan over the lock and dam might open while I was riding over the bridge. :eek:

Years ago I drove to Florida from Wisconsin with three friends for vacation. The four of us piled into my car early one morning and drove straight through. I happened to be behind the wheel when it was time to cross the Sunshine Skyway bridge in the middle of the night. I pulled over and asked someone else to drive. I had a silent freak-out in the back seat while a friend drove my car across it.
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post #5 of 17
8/2/07 at 9:28am
I feel bad for all those poor people taht lost their lives there :( , may God Bless the all and their families

We had 1 bridge fall last year, many dead also:(

This week they announced many bridges will be closed to big trucks, and all bridges in the province of Québec are to be checked one by one :eek:
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post #6 of 17
8/2/07 at 9:32am
It has been raining now here in St. Petersburg for quite some time, my husband who works for a fish store delivers to Sarasota on Thursdays, he just called and asked if I wanted to go with him...**** no..he has to drive over the Sunshine Skyway..I get physically ill every time we drive over it. Doesn't matter how incredible a structure it is..I was living here when the barge hit the old Sunshine Skyway...saying a silent prayer for those poor souls.
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post #7 of 17
8/2/07 at 12:11pm
Mezzaluna, I used to work at the Arsenal and never minded that bridge, but I still find it hard to drive over the Centennial bridge. It must be 10 stories high over the water. I remember when they were repairing it many years ago, and you could look out the window right through the wood planks and see down how far the river was.

And speaking of Wisconsin, that old bridge I think it was called the tri-state bridge or something like that. Made of slotted metal and had a vicious kink of a turn right before you got to the Wisconsin side of the river. I remember driving back late one night from Platteville, and decided to take the road that lead to that bridge. The road just seemed to be going down and down and down, and I could smell the water, and thought I was going to end up in the river, as it was kind of swollen and that bridge wasn't very high off the water!

Scary!

doc
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post #8 of 17
8/2/07 at 2:25pm
And a big, Big, BIG high five to the rescue workers and those folks that jumped in the water, put out that huge fire, pulled those kids from the bus and every other rescue worker trying to keep at least one family from heartache.
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post #9 of 17
8/2/07 at 4:16pm
One of the prep cooks at work was driving home on the Cedar Ave bridge (if you've seen photos, it's the one directly next to the 35W bridge) when the collapse happened. I'm glad he took that route.

What disturbs me, almost as much as the tragedy of it all, is the finger-pointing. We do need to find out why this happened, but not so we can assign blame. We need to find out why so we can prevent this from happening in the future. Fortunately, as Jim pointed out, there are many stories of individual courage and selflessness on the part of rescue workers and local citizens. Particularly the people that stayed on the bridge to get the children off the bus before seeing to their own safety.
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post #10 of 17
8/2/07 at 6:29pm
Thread Starter 
Doc, I know that bridge! I drove from Kenosha to Dubuque to visit a friend years ago and had a major episode of anxiety while doing so. At night.... I couldn't imagine.

And yes, I remember the Centennial Bridge repairs. I often took both bridges while I lived in the QC because my grandmother lived in Davenport. I drove across it last August when I took my mom back to visit a cousin. Both of the bridges can give me the willies.
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post #11 of 17
8/3/07 at 11:42pm
The brother of one of our lunch cooks was on the bridge; he died today of injuries sustained in the collapse.

She's only been working for us for a week, but the controlling owner is meeting with the other investors to set up a fundraiser. I work for a good guy.
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post #12 of 17
8/4/07 at 4:40pm
Thread Starter 
Greg, I'm so sorry to hear that news- may he rest in peace. You DO work for a decent human being, a "mensch".
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post #13 of 17
8/4/07 at 4:51pm
Man I'm sorry to hear that Greg. Let me know if I can help.
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post #14 of 17
8/4/07 at 5:13pm
I am sorry to hear that Greg :(
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post #15 of 17
8/4/07 at 9:23pm
I'm on the luckier end here; the only way this affects me is it makes the prep list longer. I really feel for her. The owner does a benefit for 65 Roses every year, so he's got experience in fundraising. I've worked a few of those. There's nothing else like it to really make you feel good about cooking.

Appreciate the offer, Kuan. I'll let you know when I get some details.
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post #16 of 17
8/5/07 at 8:30am
Same here, Greg, let me know if there's anything I can help with.

doc
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post #17 of 17
8/5/07 at 10:31am
Greg, Sorry to hear about your co-workers brother. These things are always so hard to deal with. I'm happy you work for a man that has compassion.

Peace be with all involved in this terrible incident.
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