The bridge tragedy/Minneapolis-35W Bridge Collapses

[counterjockey]

Oh dear God

The bridge over the Mississippi collapsed.

I've driven over that bridge I don't know how many times.

[myswtghst]

We handle a number of radio systems in the area, we haven't been able to contact the manager in the area but we've already started getting calls...

The pictures I've seen so far are crazy, I just hope they get everyone out of there ASAP.

[counterjockey]

Sounds like 50 cars in the water and at least two people dead. There was a road crew working on the bridge, traffic was just about standing still. People on that bridge didn't have a chance to get the hell away.

[Mr. Rager!]

I've been on that bridge many, many times. In fact, in about a week or so I was going up to Minneapolis and I would be on that bridge again. Jeez... I talked to my friends living up there, they're safe.

[Rapscallion]

BBC reports seven confirmed fatalities, expect that number to rise, and don't expect to find any more survivors. Had to stop searching during the darkness for safety reasons.

Rapscallion

[Bright_Star]

The bridge tragedy

Why does the government wait until AFTER something terrible happens before they decide to do something about it?
Isn't it obvious to check the structural integrity of old bridges BEFORE they end up doing what the bridge in Minnesota did? For the government to act like they were surprised is a BIG slap in the face to those who were affected by this tragedy.
They oughta know better.

[Caveat Emptor]

Why do they wait until AFTER terrorists kill 3000 people to realize the intelligence community needs a mjor post-Cold War overhaul?

Why do they spend billions on a war that does little but train additional terrorists?

Why did they squander the first budget surplus in decades and turn it into the biggest deficit in decades?

Why do they spend millions on bridges to nowhere and countless pork projects when schools are failing and tens of thousands of bridges and roads are deteriorating?

Sorry to but the simple answer is....incompetence. And indifference. It almost always takes a tragedy for someone to wake up. Fifty million people were left in the dark after power lines failed a few years ago, and I haven't heard of anything serious that's been done about that. I guess because no one died. A report I saw on the news gave bridge status nationally a "C", the power grid a "C" and water systems a "D." The bridge was actually undergoing repairs and had been listed as "deficient," but apparently no red flags were raised.

[Mr. Rager!]

Hindsight is 20/20

More than 70,000 bridges are listed as deficient. It sucks that it takes a tragedy to open our eyes to something. But, it's not just the government that does it. The government is run by a bunch of a people with pretty much the same mindset as us. While I'm not defending them for not fixing that bridge, I'm not going to condemn them.

This kind of stuff will never change, unfortunantly. But now, we can only look forward and hope that other bridges get the attention they need before something like this happens again.

[Rahmota]

Well at least its still better than if corporations ran the country. Then the only way anythign would get done is if it generated enough profit for the overloards.

It is too bad about the bridge and the people that died on it though.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I just read last night that they knew that bridge ought to have been replaced two years ago. I just don't understand why every damn thing that gets fixed has to have body count attached to it.

[AFpheonix]

From what I'd read, they'd gone over the welds in question after the 1990 report, and thought they'd fixed the problem. They also upped the rate of inspection to a yearly format.

The problem is that we've let our infrastructure degrade over a long period of time, and that it's going to take a LOT of money and probably 20 years to get everything back up to snuff again. Money we're currently throwing away in other countries.

[Tanasi]

Before we start pointing fingers there's lots and lots of blame to go around. It's also an unfortunate fact that mankind learns more from out mistakes than our foresight. Another fact is everything manmade will eventually fail and they will fail at the worst time. One more fact we the citizens of the United States are the government.
Lord Bless the dead, the hurt and their families.

[Rahmota]

Tanasi is right. Unfortunate things happen at the most unpleasant times and for many reasons. In general its a big shit sandwich with enough to go around.

May whatever deity the dead believed in accept and bless them and may those injured be healed.

[Ree]

It's a terrible tragedy.

Just a reminder that we have the fratching board for a reason.
Perhaps it would be best to continue a discussion of Bright_Star's question over there, and not here on CS, as it has the potential to turn ugly.