Our bridge collapsed.
I walked down to see it last night, but the security perimeter is pretty far back now. Like most i sit on this bridge all the time waiting to get downtown. I can not imagine what it will be like to not have this access to downtown from the north for two years. The human tragity is nearly over for now, but you wait for the worst of the political process to begin grinding away. I've already heard from the left how this was the fault of the Bush administration. This even though it was approved during Kennedy, built during Johnson, and inspected during Clinton. I agree that if we expect to inspect safety into our aging infrastructure, it's only a matter of time. Minnesota alone has 13,000 bridges.
No matter where you go - there you are.
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sloop_john_b
- Rick-a-holic
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- Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:00 am
Kent, I have to stand corrected about one thing - both the News and the Post ran articles today about how the NYC bridges rated, and the Brooklyn Bridge got a "poor" rating, which surprised me. I drive over it at least once or twice a week and it never strikes me as potentially problematic. I'm quite sure i'll be seeing construction work on it often from now on.
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firstbassman
- Advanced Member
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rickenbrother
- RRF Moderator
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lyle_from_minneapolis
- Advanced Member
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Well, this very tragedy has kept me away from the forum for a bit.
When the collapse occurred, in slow, congested traffic at 6:05pm, thousands of us immediately worried about family and friends who drive that particular stretch every day. In my case it was my sister-in-law. She gets home at 6:15 every weekday, like clockwork, and she went missing. So what do you do? You make phone calls to everyone. And what happens? All the phones jam, and the fear grips you.
She's okay. She decided to pick that day, of all days, to stay at work later. Many people I know have similar stories to tell...while others have horrific ones. You go to the site and see a sight that is hard to understand--the road angles down at a perfect 45 degrees, and then a gaping space that should not be there. It is hard to grasp for those of us who have driven the bridge more times than we could count.
At the scene, some people spontaneously cry. Others seem excited by it all. I've spoken to some of the rescue workers who described the diving effort. Imagine a 600-foot bridge span torn into pieces, and all those pieces are in the river. They create weird eddies and whirlpools. There is a dam about a hundred yards upstream, so all the river silt and mud is churning. Underwater visibility is about 12 inches. They lowered the river to help rescue efforts, but this also speeds up the current. So the divers blindly plod their way around these hazards in a swift current, where one misstep can whip them into rebar, jagged iron beams or a crumpled car. It's a wonder no major injuries have been reported among the rescuers.
And now the politicians have come to town, and their pictures are being taken, and money is being promised, all too late.
But all of your good thoughts and prayers should be directed to the people I've seen with the unbearable grief etched in their faces, who know their loved ones have died a terrifying death, and rest beyond our reach in the river.
When the collapse occurred, in slow, congested traffic at 6:05pm, thousands of us immediately worried about family and friends who drive that particular stretch every day. In my case it was my sister-in-law. She gets home at 6:15 every weekday, like clockwork, and she went missing. So what do you do? You make phone calls to everyone. And what happens? All the phones jam, and the fear grips you.
She's okay. She decided to pick that day, of all days, to stay at work later. Many people I know have similar stories to tell...while others have horrific ones. You go to the site and see a sight that is hard to understand--the road angles down at a perfect 45 degrees, and then a gaping space that should not be there. It is hard to grasp for those of us who have driven the bridge more times than we could count.
At the scene, some people spontaneously cry. Others seem excited by it all. I've spoken to some of the rescue workers who described the diving effort. Imagine a 600-foot bridge span torn into pieces, and all those pieces are in the river. They create weird eddies and whirlpools. There is a dam about a hundred yards upstream, so all the river silt and mud is churning. Underwater visibility is about 12 inches. They lowered the river to help rescue efforts, but this also speeds up the current. So the divers blindly plod their way around these hazards in a swift current, where one misstep can whip them into rebar, jagged iron beams or a crumpled car. It's a wonder no major injuries have been reported among the rescuers.
And now the politicians have come to town, and their pictures are being taken, and money is being promised, all too late.
But all of your good thoughts and prayers should be directed to the people I've seen with the unbearable grief etched in their faces, who know their loved ones have died a terrifying death, and rest beyond our reach in the river.
Here is where I hide my music:
http://www.soundclick.com/MarkKaufman
http://www.soundclick.com/MarkKaufman
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