Police: More victims in submerged cars (bridge rated structurally deficient in 2005)

[catgirl]

Source: AP

The bridge had been inspected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2005 and 2006 and no immediate structural problems were noted, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Wednesday.

"There were some minor things that needed attention," he said. "They notified us from an engineering standpoint the deck might need to be rehabilitated or replaced in 2020 or beyond."

A federal database, however, showed the 40-year-old bridge had been rated as "structurally deficient" in 2005 and possibly in need of replacement, the Star Tribune reported citing the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory.

"We've seen it, and we are very familiar with it," Jeanne Aamodt, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, said of the 2005 assessment. She noted that many other bridges around the country carry the same designation that the I-35W bridge received, and she declined to say what the agency was going to do to address the deficiencies found in 2005.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070802/ap_on_re_us/bridge_collapse;_ylt=AkI6Bne3ET1HCHx2IZeIBGus0NUE

---

Yup. Now the truth is coming out.

[Lost4words]

1. who was leading the country in 2005?

[catgirl]

2. Pawlenty lied last night

A weisel as usual. And earlier Norm Coleman relayed that the Governor
told him the bridge had been inspected THREE years before. He forgot
about the 2 most recent inspections that resulted in warnings about the
bridge?

[Eurobabe]

3. No one. That's the problem n/t

[Virginia Dare]

7. Here's yer answer..

[kikiek]

15. WOW that really sums it up. That picture says it all there they are.

[Virginia Dare]

17. Yep, and take notice of the Republican populist uniform..

:eyes: :puke:

[tanyev]

50. Costume.

[mzmolly]

47. That's one scary bunch.

:scared:

[MnFats]

48. reminds me of that reservoir dogs scene....Tarantino's film

clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right
stuck in the middle with you

[Thor_MN]

54. Looks like Normie's a little out of step

Looks like we hit the trifecta, of idiots.... And the whole lot of them are going to be here tomorrow. Might be a good day to go visit Wisconsin.

[myrna minx]

4. It's not just we, Minnesotans, that are gambling

on our crumbling infrastructure. I hope this is a wake up call.

[shain from kane]

5. "...to address the deficiencies found in 2005." Well, it's obvious that you are going to build a new

bridge on the backs of the citizens that you failed.


"She noted that many other bridges around the country carry the same designation that the I-35W bridge received, and she declined to say what the agency was going to do to address the deficiencies found in 2005."

[cyberswede]

6. "many other bridges ...carry the same designation that the I-35W bridge received..."

"A federal database, however, showed the 40-year-old bridge had been rated as "structurally deficient" in 2005 and possibly in need of replacement, the Star Tribune reported citing the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory."

Here's a link to the database mentioned above:
http://www.ire.org/datalibrary/databases/viewdatabase.php?dbaseindex=16

Here's a link to other similar databases:
http://www.ire.org/datalibrary/databases/databases.php

[Ian David]

8. Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) "No one could have anticipated..."

Tim Pawlenty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Timothy James (Tim) Pawlenty (born November 27, 1960) is an American politician from the Republican Party. He is the 39th and current Governor of Minnesota, and started his term on January 6, 2003. After winning re-election in 2006, he "downplayed any national ambitions" but some speculate that his vocal support of John McCain makes him a potential Vice Presidential candidate.<1>

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Pawlenty

To clarify, Pawlenty didn't actually say those exact words (as far as I know).

[Virginia Dare]

9. Where have we heard that one before?...n/t

[catgirl]

30. Bush: No one could have anticipated the breaching of the levees.

And...General Caldwell: No one could have anticipated the sectarian violence (in Iraq).
Cheney said it too.

Google no one anticipated. Very interesting.

[Virginia Dare]

32. Condi Rice: "no one could have anticipated airplanes being flown into buildings"..n/t

[Sequoia]

43. "No one could have anticpated airplanes flying into buildings!"

whined Condi on the stand. (Something like that)

[SpiralHawk]

10. "No one could have anticipated 9/11." - Condi 'Clueless' Rice

"We republicon Homelanders aren't real good at anticipation and stuff. Smirk, smirk, smirk.

- Commander AWOL

[Demeter]

13. And Another State Flips To Darkest Blue

What are we gonna do when we don't have the GOP to kick around any more?

[Ian David]

16. There will always be The Libertarians, who might be neck-and-neck with Repukes by 2012. n/t

[FatDave]

41. Misguided as I find libertarians to be...

...I can't help but think that's a step in the right direction.

[Ian David]

42. Libertarians are just Republicans who smoke pot. n/t

[catgirl]

21. Listen to Pawlenty's LIES from last night

The bridge had been inspected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2005 and 2006 and no immediate structural problems were noted, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Wednesday.

"There were some minor things that needed attention," he said. "They notified us from an engineering standpoint the deck might need to be rehabilitated or replaced in 2020 or beyond."

[Ian David]

24. What did the pothead dumpster-diving son of a parking-lot fornicator Norm Coleman have to say? n/t

[northernsoul]

25. you forgot to mention his beautiful teeth

n/t

[catgirl]

39. He actually looked scared

Now I can see why. Norm relayed the lies.

[Ian David]

11. Other Third-World Countries and Banana Republics don't take care of their infrastructure, either.

We are, in fact, "fighting them over here," too.

Every time a hurricane or a tornado hits, and we ask, "Where are our National Guard units?" we're fighting them over here.

Every time a bridge collapses or a levee breaks because we've bankrupted ourselves with Bush's "Bomb-and-Spend" economy, we're fighting them over here.

Republicans say that government is the problem, not the solution, and once they're elected, they do their best to prove it.


See also:
AFL-CIO warns Bush in 2002: Stop slashing billions from America's transportation infrastructure!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1494728&mesg_id=1494728

[brer cat]

22. Excellent reply! n/t

[Ian David]

23. SeeAlso: AFL-CIO warns Bush in 2002: Stop slashing billions frm America's transportation infrastrure

AFL-CIO warns Bush in 2002: Stop slashing billions from America's transportation infrastructure!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1494728&mesg_id=1494728

[Frosty1]

29. I second that opinion

:yourock:

[to2bene]

33. We are too fighting them over here

We are so right, IanDB1

[to2bene]

34. Sorry -- YOU are so right, IanDB1

[Kali]

37. "Bomb and Spend Economy"

stealing :thumbsup:

[Bitwit1234]

12. Pawlenty, almost worst than bush.....poured money into a

new stadium instead of repairing the bridge. He wanted the stadium and everything else in Minneapolis given a face lift for the republican convention. It did little good to complain. He just rolled right over everybody. He had to make it look good for his fellow crooks.

[Demeter]

14. Karma Strikes Again!

Reality is a bitch--no wonder the GOP would rather create its own!

[yardwork]

49. Except that the people who paid with their lives were innocent.

[Demeter]

52. No Argument There

[Ian David]

18. Now, if the bridge had collapsed during the Repuke convention...

You know, now that I think of it, that bridge would probably have been filled with thousands of anti-Repuke protesters forced to walk across it after "electrical problems" on Amtrak.

[acmavm]

19. Just like everything else. Like 'no one could have known that

al Quaeda would take airplanes and ram them into buildings' or 'Jessica Lynch was captured and threatened, there was no threat from the air quality in the area around the WTC after 911, etc., Saddam had WMDs, and on and on and on and on and on.

[Ian David]

20. Pawlenty's Stadium and The Bridge to The Bottom Of The Sea

Gov. Pawlenty's stadium plans provides several financing mechanisms

Posted: 3/16/04
Gov. Pawlenty's stadium plans provides several financing mechanisms
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

Gov. Pawlentyís stadium proposal allows host communities to raise local taxes without a referendum ó sales tax, hospitality taxes ó while providing several financing mechanisms for building stadiums.

The governorís no-referendum-required stance extends to counties.

Pawlenty released his proposal on Monday (March 15), explaining though the stateís quality of life is dependent on many things, professional sports is one of them.

He remains troubled by the economics of sports, explained Pawlenty, yet as governor must do what he can to solve the longstanding stadium issue.

It has been a vexing problem and the odor has lingered for years, he said.

"Bottom line, I don't want to lose the Vikings and the Twins on my watch," said Pawlenty.

More:
http://www.hometownsource.com/capitol/2004/march/16stadiums.html


Critics say Pawlenty's stadium plan involves taxpayer cash
March 17, 2004
Listen to feature audio http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media/player/news/features/2004/03/17_khoom_stadium

Gov. Pawlenty has maintained for months that he would block any attempts to use the state's general tax revenues to support professional sports. But critics say he's slipped just such a proposal into the ballpark financing plan he released earlier this week. The governor's package would plow a portion of the sales and income taxes generated at new Minnesota Twins and Vikings stadiums right back into the facilities' construction costs. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo reports.

More:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2004/03/17_khoom_stadium/



Wanted: More millions for 2008 GOP convention
Pawlenty hopes that every Fortune 500 company in the state will donate at least $1 million to the GOP event.
By Brian Bakst, Associated Press
Last update: June 27, 2007 – 8:45 PM
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1272193.html


4 killed in bridge collapse
by Los Angeles Times

<snip>

The collapse occurred shortly before the start of a Minnesota Twins baseball game at the nearby Metrodome. Authorities decided to go ahead with the game -- after a moment of silence -- rather than add to the chaos by sending thousands of fans onto the roads. The Twins have canceled Thursday's game and postponed groundbreaking for their new stadium.

The bridge carries an estimated 200,000 cars a day; that traffic will have to be rerouted indefinitely. The bridge also was expected to be a key artery during the Republican National Convention in the summer of 2008.

More:
http://www.dailymail.com/story/Nation+and+World/2007080237/4-killed-in-bridge-collapse/

[LibDemAlways]

28. "I don't want to lose the Vikings and Twins on my watch"...but

ordinary citizens going about their business....they're expendable.

As an aside, I was watching coverage of the bridge collapse with my 14-yr-old daughter. Pawlenty was lying through his teeth about the bridge inspections. Daughter, who has pretty good instincts about people, turned to me and said, "Mom, that guy has no heart. He's as cold as they come. He doesn't care about those people in those cars."

How ironic that the bridge was "expected to be a key artery" during the R convention next summer. Kind of a metaphor for what has become of the Grand Old Party....structurally rotten to the point of collapse.

[catgirl]

26. Tony Snow: 50 on a scale of 120 for structural stability

Unbelievable! They are responsible for all of these deaths.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070802/bush-bridge-collapse/?

WASHINGTON — The White House said Thursday that an inspection two years ago found structural deficiencies in the highway bridge that buckled during evening rush hour in Minneapolis.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said the Interstate 35W span rated 50 on a scale of 120 for structural stability.

"This doesn't mean there was a risk of failure, but if an inspection report identifies deficiencies, the state is responsible for taking corrective actions," he said. The bridge was 40 years old.

[Karenina]

44. Carlyle to the rescue!!!

The PERFECT set-up for privatization of critical infrastructure! They've already got a team in place!!! See: GD.

On Edit: Here's the link...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1497299

[catgirl]

46. Of course if the Iraq "war" $ went in to our infrastructure

we'd have a rehabbed safe country!

[UpInArms]

27. here's the report from 2001

this problem has been ongoing for quite some time - but remember that the GOP decided that it was not important - they have been leading congress since 1994 (until 2006 - and that is a long long long time)

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/03/08/crumbling.infrastructure/index.html

Report: $1.3 trillion needed to rebuild the nation's infrastructure

March 8, 2001

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Structurally deficient bridges, unsafe dams and overcrowded and outdated school buildings are some of the problems cited in a report from an engineering group on the infrastructure of the United States, and it says it will cost $1.3 trillion to fix them.

The review, released Thursday by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), says the money is needed over the next five years to shore up the nation's crumbling infrastructure, which it graded as a D+ overall.

The 2001 report card sites explosive population growth, school enrollment outpacing education investment and maintenance, political red tape and an aging system for the almost failing grade. It also calls for a partnership between citizens, local, state and federal government and the private sector to remedy the problem.

In the three years since the society's last report, where an overall "D" was given, five categories have slightly improved, three have deteriorated and the addition of two new areas keeps the average grade low. The twelve areas are aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, energy transmission, hazardous waste, roads, schools, solid waste, transit, wastewater and waterways.

<snip>

"As dismal as these grades seem, many of the downward trends can be reversed with increased funding and a renewed partnership between citizens, local, state and federal governments," ASCE Executive Director James E. Davis said. "As a nation, we have taken for granted that our lights will turn on, our roads and bridges won't crumble beneath us and that we'll have clean and safe water when we're thirsty."

...more...

[Ghost Dog]

31. Wow, this is all so very Ayn Rand ("Atlas Shrugged", stuff),

... minus the enormously genuine and passionately Nitzschean superwoman - supermen material, of course.

Incorporate Corporate Malfunction, Marvin.

[MisterP]

40. ironically, it's the Randroids hatred of gub'mint involvement that brought this about

[Ghost Dog]

51. Ironic, yeah. That's putting it kindly.

Putative Empires are not generally recommended to reveal themselves as, let's say, vulnerable (so as not to say next-to-pathetic (or is it just that something stinks?)), like, back home, in the eyes of the world.

It just encourages the "natives".

"Incorporate Corporate ("Don't say: Malfeasance"), Malfunction, Marvin".

"Thank you very much. As if I didn't know already. As if I didn't already have enough things to be thinking about. I feel extremely depressed. I'm going to shut myself up in the bedroom and pluck some wires out of myself. Nobody understands."

"I just want to talk to you. I won't uh, do you no harm,
I just want to know about your different lives, on
this here people farm.

I heard some of you got your families, living in
cages tall & cold,
And some just stay there and dust away, past the
age of old.
Is this true? Please let me talk to you.

I just wanna know about, the rooms behind
your minds,
Do I see a vacuum there, or am I going blind?
Or is it just remains from vibrations and echoes
long ago,
Things like 'Love the World' and 'Let your fancy
flow',
Is this true? Please let me talk to you. Let me
talk to you.

I have lived here before, the days of ice,
And of course this is why I'm so concerned,
And I come back to find the stars misplaced
and the smell of a world that has burned.

The smell of a world that has burned.

Well, maybee, maybe it's just a change of
climate.
I can dig it, I can dig it baby, I just want to see.

So where do I purchase my ticket,
I would just like to have a ringside seat,
I want to know about the new Mother Earth,
I want to hear and see everything,
I want to hear and see everything,
I want to hear and see everything.
Aw, shucks,
If my daddy could see me now."

:silly:

[MisterP]

53. and by "ironic" I meant "deliberate" and "with malice aforesight"

you don't hire Alan Greenspan and the Austrofascist "Austrian School" to HELP the economy. Palast notes how every time the IMF barges in, they prepare for riots and protests because of their verkakte policies. Rand's "literature" makes it very, very clear that she loves the predatory billionaires that devour the "herd" to aggrandize themselves.
But I do fervently pray every evening that all the U.S.'s industrialists withdraw themselves to a hole in Colorado. Oh, what would we ever do without their support?

[Cobalt Violet]

35. K $ R.

:kick:

[Sequoia]

36. I was thinking about these cites the other day.

When I was in the air force I flew into the Twin Cities airport. Just last week I was thinking how it would've been nice if I could have spent at least a day in the cites just to check things out instead of flying in, waiting two hours, and flying on to Denver. It was in the winter and I remember seeing the lights on the bridge. My heart is with you people of Minnesota.

What was amazing to me is those cars that are pratically vertical on the tipped portions without falling off. How is that possible?

[Eugene]

38. Reuters: More bodies recovered in Minneapolis bridge collapse

Source: Reuters

More bodies recovered in Minneapolis bridge collapse
02 Aug 2007 15:29:40 GMT
Source: Reuters

-snip-

By Todd Melby

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Authorities said they
uncovered more bodies on Thursday from the wreckage of
a U.S. highway bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi
River, and more than 20 people were missing.

-snip-

"Several (more) people are confirmed dead at the scene,"
Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said, in addition to the
four deaths already confirmed by the local coroner.

Dolan would not be more specific about the toll on the
Interstate 35W bridge.

About 60 people were injured.

The death toll was almost certain to climb as recovery
work continued.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02464869.htm

[Trillo]

45. Why was the notation only in a federal database?

Why wasn't a sign placed on the bridge itself:

Bridge structurally deficient
Enter at your own risk