We have another bridge problem in the Twin Cities. Yesterday, a roughly 6 ft by 9 ft by one inch sheet of concrete (1200 lb) fell off an overpass of a structurally deficient bridge and onto traffic below. No one was injured, but two cars were damaged. One suffered a broken windshield. Traffic backed up for miles as the bridge was inspected.
"The main thing is the bridge is perfectly safe," said Dan Dorgan, state bridge engineer. "The structural capacity isn't affected."
That comment makes me feel really safe (snark).
It’s just about one year ago that the I35W bridge that passed over the Mississippi River collapsed killing 13 people and injuring about 100 others. This problem with the infrastructure occurs at a bad time for Tim Pawlenty, the clever Governor from Minnesota who thought he would save money by hiring his Lt. Governor, Carol Molnau, to be the Commissioner for the Department of Transportation as well as the Lt. Governor. Molnau had little experience in transportation; her primary experience, in my view, was voting against legislation for public transportation.
Molnau served the dual role in Pawlenty’s first term but was removed from the position of Dept. of Transportation Commissioner at the beginning of his second term. The vote was among party lines.
The latest bridge failure is close to the location of the Republican National Convention. I wonder if the visiting Republicans will be worried while driving on Twin Cities roads. As a resident, I am worried. I believe that bridges that are structurally deficient should be tagged (legally) with graffiti or in some other manner so that motorists (and cyclists) are warned and provided a reminder that infrastructure requires investment.
This latest incident should hurt Tim Pawlenty’s chances for being a vice presidential candidate for John McCain. Pawlenty -- whether it’s fair or not -- is a reminder of how Republicans' zealous commitment to limiting taxes has consequences for citizens. Pawlenty vetoed a bipartisan supported transportation bill prior to the I35W bridge collapse. He was quoted as saying "How dumb can they be"regarding the proposed tax hike to fix roads. Who looks dumb now?
Below are some of my images of the I35W (Minneapolis) bridge that fell nearly one year ago.
And here is a link to the Strib story on the overpass problem in St Paul:
http://www.startribune.com/...