At 6:05 yesterday a major freeway bridge collapsed in Downtown Minneapolis, mn. I have been following the story and here are a few observations:

1. cell service went out or was weak for at least 4 hours.
2. CNN got at least some of the basic info wrong, which is weird as they were getting their feed from a local affiliate
3. the governor got at least some of the factual information wrong.
4. Crowd controll quickly became an issue with thousands of gawkers watching from adjacent bridges, roads and the riverbanks.
5. My BOB got a real-life test ( see other post)
6. Rescue operations ceased late last night for the safety of the rescuers.
7. The state wide Red Cross office was only one block from the bridge and was used for triage


More on this event later,


Teacher

1. My bet was cell phone service wasn't down, just overloaded like what happens all over any time there is any disaster and people start calling people they know to see if they are ok.
2. CNN is one of the absolute worst news reporters there is, they seem to not be able to ever get facts right.
3. Gevernment officials are usually just as bas as news because they wrre either briefed wrong or incompletley or want to put a political spin on things (blame Bush or whomever).
4. rubberneckers

Wasn't there a bridge in CA that fell last week or so?
We had an incident here a few years ago where some underground water drained and a section of highway sunk. from what I've gathered most of our nations highways and roads are well past their designed life and in major need or repair.

I dont think you can fault only CNN here, not that I'm a huge fan. I'm sure all the news stations got a few facts jumbled. At first, there were 7 dead and 20 missing. Just yesterday we were hearing that there were 4 dead and 30 missing. Today it's 6 dead and 7-8 missing.

I never take anything as fact in a breaking news story until much later. Especially anything mainstream media or the gov tells us. They all seem to spin stories one way or another.

I saw the rubberneckers in a few photos. Thousands on a parallel bridge. You'd think the police would have cleared them out and sealed off the bridge from pedestrians.

I always use SMS texting during times when cell phone bandwidth is overloaded. Seems to get through OK.

I am wondering what the "lost" time would be calculated for the following:

a) The Railway that is no longer usable for the next week or two?

b) 1) The River that is no longer open for the passage of cargo-laden and empty barges that need to go up & downstream. 2) Those barges, loaded and unloaded that are trapped upstream of the bridge. 3) The towboats that are trapped upstream of the bridge (lost time, fuel being used for gensets/MDE's, crew wages, food, etc.)

c) The additional transportation costs for cargo carrying tractor trailer loads to move around the bridge sight.

d) The lock that is currently useless while the river remains closed (wages, debris clearance, etc).

e) The non-reimbursible costs to the everyday commuter who has to get from home to work by longer, slower routes.

f) The amount of costs to support the outside salvage crews that will have to be brought in and require support services (motels, restaurant, vehicle maintenance, etc)


I am sure that most of this info will never be collected and correlated as a final number.

They are saying it could be 2 years until the bridge is rebuilt. Yes, it will be very expensive for the people/businesses there.

They are doing major sewer work right outside my workplace and they've closed off the road for a long period of time. The businesses here are having an awful time keeping things going.