Interstate 35W bridge report
On Thursday federal investigators blamed the deadly collapse last year on Aug. 1, 2007, of the Insterstate 35W bridge which crossed the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, on engineering design flaws that resulted in steel plates buckling under the weight of construction equipment and supplies. They did not find corrosion or a lack of upkeep to be the cause. They also claimed that infrastructure improvements contributed to the collapse.
The testimony came on the first day of a National Transportation Safety Board hearing in Washington, after more than a year of investigation into the tragedy that killed 13 people and injured more than 100.
NTSB officials had raised concerns about the design of the steel plates months earlier, questioning whether they were too thin to hold up under the increased traffic and added weight of infrastructure improvements made since the bridge opened in 1967. The modifications, which included thickening the driving deck, further strained the bridge's weaker spots, investigators said.
NTSB: Too Small Steel Plates Caused Bridge Fall
Associated Press
Cars are not supposed to fly
Annette Marie Hyder
A bridge is not supposed to come to life
rear up
then down
open a maw that wasn't there
by breaking in half
and carry you down
to the hungry rushing river.
Cars are not supposed to fly
arc in dreadful grace
swoop sixty feet —
people along for the ride —
in fear inspiring dives.
Life shouldn't be a movie
this isn't happening
starring green metal superstructure
and chunks of concrete wreathed
in clouds of rust-colored dust.
In this river city
it's all about crossing the river
back and forth and back again.
But some people have crossed that river
and wont be
coming back
except and unless
they come back as ghosts
to haunt
the banks of the Mississippi.
Posted by Annette Marie Hyder at 11/14/2008 9:01 AM 
Categories: Writing and Poetry, News and Politics, Minnesota
Categories: Writing and Poetry, News and Politics, Minnesota
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