uPtoWnNY said:

You're right about needing a disaster to spur (?) our government into action....but just when you think that they actually care about people over money, you read a story like this one.....my heart broke when I read it....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/U...newssearch

Bridge collapse took 5, who were they?

Bridge collapse took 5, who were they?

http://www.newsday.com/ny..._headlines

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:04 PM EDT, August 3, 2007


MINNEAPOLIS - A marketing director. An exercise therapist. A produce salesman. A cosmetology student. A truck driver.

Their careers brought them to the city. The Interstate 35W bridge was supposed to carry them home. But the five people killed when the bridge dropped into the Mississippi River were stuck in rush-hour traffic at the worst possible place at the worst possible time.

Patrick Holmes, 36, had crossed the bridge thousands of times in the five years he'd worked as an exercise therapist in Bloomington. He was headed home to pick up his 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter from a friend who watched them while his wife, Jennifer, played golf.

She can't fathom why this time, it collapsed underneath him, sending vehicles into the water, crushing many under concrete and steel.

"How can you know why?" she wondered. "We don't have control over what happens."

Salesman Artemio Trinidad-Mena, 29, was returning to his 2-month-old daughter and wife Abundia Martinez after a day of meeting with the clients of New York Plaza Produce. The illegal immigrant's wages helped support three other children, ages 2-11, in their home state of Guerrero, Mexico.

"He was the best man I'd ever met, a friendly guy, a happy guy. If you ever had a problem, he'd say, 'Don't be sad. You have to live a happy life,"' said co-worker Imelda Riera. "He made everyone feel good. He was that kind of person.

"I'd complain about forgetting about my keys or something and having to go home ... he'd say, 'No problem, no problem. I'll go get it for you."'

A Mexican flag adorned a memorial at his home Friday, where people left white roses and dollars in a donation box. His widow hopes to raise enough money to take his body home to the nation he left a decade ago.

Sherry Engebretsen had also been eager to get home that day. Daughter Anne was leaving for dance camp, and she wanted to say goodbye.

The 60-year-old marketing director was having a bad day, husband Ronald said. Perhaps that's why she skipped her ordinary route to Shoreview, the 10th Avenue bridge, and opted for I-35W.

She spoke to both of her daughters every day, and her last call was to 18-year-old Jessica.

"Nowadays, you hear a lot of stories about parents and kids not getting along," Jessica Engebretsen said. "But we always got along."

Julia Blackhawk, 32, was the divorced mother of two boys, a cosmetology student hoping to launch a new career with her Aveda Institute training.

Blackhawk's dark eyes and hair reflected her Winnebago Indian heritage, and ex-husband Khaffak Ansari told the St. Paul Pioneer Press she was "strong in her convictions, strong in her traditions."

"God can be so cruel sometimes," he said.

Still missing and presumed dead by her grieving family is Sadiya Sahal, five months pregnant and toting 2-year-old daughter Hanah Mohamed.

Sahal was stuck in traffic. The 23-year-old nursing student was on her way to pick up a friend who needed a ride home from work, said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center.

Sahal moved to Minneapolis from Somalia in 2000 and graduated Washburn High School, Jamal said. She'd been married for just a few years.

In four wrenching seconds, Mohamed Sahal's family vanished.

"He's doing terribly. He's devastated. He's in shock. He can't even talk," Jamal said of the heartbroken mechanic. "He's really in complete disbelief. I don't even have the language to describe it."


[Edited 8/4/07 0:02am]
[Edited 8/4/07 0:02am]
[Edited 8/4/07 1:55am]

is it just me or did G-Dubs little speech seem a bit off point, focusing on rebuilding the bridge as quick as possible because it's a major artery for the twin cities. something I don't argue or disbute but it just seemed like bad timing.

statuesqque said:

That's Bush's middle name: bad timing.

Mom's doing fine.

This was truly tragic.


...and has done WONDERS for my bonafide phobia of being crushed by an underpass.

And it becomes even more real to me...

I found out this morning an aquaintance of mine's (my favorite Mpls DJ, actually) finace was on the bridge when it collpased. Her car nosedived 60 feet and hit the river bank. Her seatbelt and airbag most certainly saved her life, but (from the email I received last night) she "suffered multiple injuries, including shattered ankles, feet and shins, and a fractured spine. She has already endured four operations to repair her feet and will be in a hard-shell body cast for several months. She will require extensive and long-term rehabilitation in the hopes of returning to normal mobility."

It's all so sad.

And it becomes even more real to me...

I found out this morning an aquaintance of mine's (my favorite Mpls DJ, actually) finace was on the bridge when it collpased. Her car nosedived 60 feet and hit the river bank. Her seatbelt and airbag most certainly saved her life, but (from the email I received last night) she "suffered multiple injuries, including shattered ankles, feet and shins, and a fractured spine. She has already endured four operations to repair her feet and will be in a hard-shell body cast for several months. She will require extensive and long-term rehabilitation in the hopes of returning to normal mobility."

It's all so sad.

And it becomes even more real to me...

I found out this morning an aquaintance of mine's (my favorite Mpls DJ, actually) finace was on the bridge when it collpased. Her car nosedived 60 feet and hit the river bank. Her seatbelt and airbag most certainly saved her life, but (from the email I received last night) she "suffered multiple injuries, including shattered ankles, feet and shins, and a fractured spine. She has already endured four operations to repair her feet and will be in a hard-shell body cast for several months. She will require extensive and long-term rehabilitation in the hopes of returning to normal mobility."

It's all so sad.

CarrieMpls said:

carrie is the dj a male or female..i happen 2 know of a DJ out in mpls and was just wondering if it was her or not.

thanks!

L4OATheOriginal said:

Male DJ. Not a Prince DJ. lol.

The Lafayette Bridge: A reason for worry in St. Paul?

The Lafayette Bridge shares many of the same concerns raised about the Interstate 35W span and is not slated for replacement until 2011.

By Pam Louwagie and James Walsh, Star Tribune

Last update: August 08, 2007 – 10:33 AM
While the state is hoping to build a replacement for the Interstate 35W bridge by the end of next year, a major bridge in St. Paul that had been deemed more worrisome and that came close to collapse before is not scheduled for replacement until 2011.

The Lafayette Bridge, a part of Hwy. 52 that carries 81,000 vehicles a day and spans the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul, is the state's most-traveled bridge with troubles similar to the I-35W bridge.

Like that bridge, the Lafayette is "fracture-critical," meaning that if one part fails the whole bridge could fall. It also is considered structurally deficient and has a sufficiency rating just under what the I-35W span was rated.

The bridge's history includes a temporary shutdown in 1975 -- less than a decade after it opened in 1968 -- when a crack "large enough to put your arm into" was discovered in the bridge's main beam after someone noticed a 7-inch dip in the roadway, according to a newspaper report. That fracture in the southbound lane nearly resulted "in [the] collapse of the bridge," a 2006 inspection report noted. The damaged component was jacked back into place and reinforced with bolted plates, the report said.

"That's a bridge we've been watching for a number of years," said Department of Transportation spokesman Kent Barnard. He added that its condition is "nothing ominous, nothing threatening."

Experience with the bridge

"I drive across it probably two to three times a week myself, and I don't even stop and think about it," Barnard said.

Mike Legato does.

Legato, a St. Paul construction worker, says there are times, when traffic is especially heavy and cars are bumper to bumper, that he can feel the bridge rattle and shake on his daily commute.

"When you're stopped, you really feel it," he said.

He said he wasn't surprised to hear that the bridge has an even lower sufficiency rating than the collapsed I-35W span or that a replacement isn't planned for a number of years.

"The feds gotta answer to it. We talk a lot about it at work," Legato said. "They've got a system in place that they ignore."

The Minnesota Department of Transportation's Metropolitan District engineer, Khani Sahebjam, said Tuesday he knew of no plans to accelerate the timetable for reconstruction, but he acknowledged that priorities could change.

"Of course it's all tied to possible future funding," Sahebjam said. "Right now, with this situation, the focus is on bridges, so maybe bridges will be done sooner."

Bridges vibrate and are designed to, he added.

St. Paul City Engineer John Maczko was asked if the I-35W collapse will make planners less willing to wait for the Lafayette's replacement.

"I hope it has," he said. "I would think that this has shaken them [MnDOT] to the bone."

Concerns raised in 2006

A 2006 inspection report found a number of concerns about the bridge.

The inspectors recommended several maintenance procedures such as cleaning, lubricating and painting hinges, repairing eight loose or broken lateral bracing hanger bars, and removing "stool" concrete, which they called a "severe safety concern" after people complained about falling concrete. The report said the bridge should be replaced in eight years. Sahebjam said that the department is starting earlier than that.

At 3,366 feet long, with a main span of 362 feet, the bridge not only is a main artery into the city, it crosses over several city streets, including Kellogg Boulevard and Warner Road as well as parking lots, loading docks, a barge terminal and a railroad. Its sufficiency rating is 49.5 as of June; the I-35W bridge into Minneapolis had a rating of 50 in June 2006.

Kathy Lantry, president of the St. Paul City Council, said the bridge's replacement has been a priority for the city for a "very long time."We have been pushing this bridge," she said. "And I'm not sure what else we can do, other than now we have a tragedy to point to and say, 'If you don't reinvest in your infrastructure, here's what happens.' "

However, Maczko said it could be a mistake to rush into replacement work because of the tricky design questions involved. For example, the bridge's north approach into downtown requires cars to slow significantly to exit to I-94 and I-35E. Two or three cars have run into the Savoy Restaurant across the street from the approach, he said, forcing the city to install a concrete wall there to protect the building.

Questions about exit ramp design and changing the bridge's alignment need to be considered in designing a new span, Maczko said.

"Those are the things you don't want glossed over in the hurry to replace the bridge," he said.

For Yahkeem Glover, who crosses the Lafayette Bridge twice a day on his way to and from his job detailing cars in Bloomington, the bridge's condition is cause for worry -- and fatalism.

"Until now, I didn't really think about that bridge," he said. "It's not as high up off the ground as some, and it doesn't seem to shake as much as others I've gone over. But it's definitely going to make me think more.

Then, after a pause, he said: "But I don't really have an alternative."

I got a peak tonight.



I have been wanting to go take a look, but out of respect for the workers I've kept myself away, but my route to the salon tonight goes right by and my goodness. Seeing it in person, well, it's an incredibly frightful sight.

I got a peak tonight.



I have been wanting to go take a look, but out of respect for the workers I've kept myself away, but my route to the salon tonight goes right by and my goodness. Seeing it in person, well, it's an incredibly frightful sight.

And it becomes even more real to me...

I found out this morning an aquaintance of mine's (my favorite Mpls DJ, actually) finace was on the bridge when it collpased. Her car nosedived 60 feet and hit the river bank. Her seatbelt and airbag most certainly saved her life, but (from the email I received last night) she "suffered multiple injuries, including shattered ankles, feet and shins, and a fractured spine. She has already endured four operations to repair her feet and will be in a hard-shell body cast for several months. She will require extensive and long-term rehabilitation in the hopes of returning to normal mobility."

It's all so sad.