We are hundreds of trillions of dollars in debt, we can't afford that. LOL

We're always in debt. That'* the defining characteristic of the American dream.

In my life I have crossed that bridge hmmmm.... 100s of times. Here is the deal. In 2001 there were no stress fractures to report. In 2006 there were minor stress fractures. The bridge was being resurfaced within the last month which ment MAJOR vibrations (likely made the stress fractors worse). Add to that a mound of sand was being held on the bridge 2 stories high. Being a landscaper I would guess that mound of sand to be in the 2000 ton area.

The next point is this bridge was made 40 years ago. Just 20 years ago the Twin cities had under 2 million people in the whole metro. Now the metro has well over 4 million. The whole highway system here is SEVERELY undersized. It was ment for say Boise Idaho traffic, not Chicago traffic. That bridge saw 200,000 vehicles daily. I'd say it did well considering it wasn't made for this many people. Add mass quantitys of vehicles, the vibrations of resurfacing and 20 semis worth of sand and you have one unhappy bridge. Not to mention it was a 458ft steel arch bridge. That means no pillars in the center just one big steel arch.

Really?! interesting. I was thinking it might be foundation related (as mentioned earlier) but based on updated pictures, the column/footings looked pretty stable.

We'll wait and see

Its out there this morning but still no cause for the shift. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/*...oryId=12476274

Up to 7 fatalities now. How sad. :(

They have been showing the guy from the NTSB stressing that the shift happened during/after the collapse, and that it was not the cause of the collapse. Rather, it is a clue as to where to start looking for the cause.,

Also, the confirmed death toll is still only at 5. The four initially reported, and the driver of the burning bread truck they kept focusing on in all the post collpase videos.

Air Force one is on the runway at MSP as I type this...

the official report is in

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,322849,00.html

:/ old thread... but yeah. the gusset plates that basically hold the thing together were only half as thick as they should have been for a bridge that size. it was not due to deterioration, it was a design flaw.

Valid bump, relevant thread.

Thanks for the update, I figured it was the footing, but gusset plates, no kidding.

yup. as soon as one went, the load on the others was increased, and it just went downhill from there.