Minnesota's "Mess Across the River"

by Sara

OK -- finally, New Car now all mine and parked in the back yard, and it is great to again own wheels that work.  (even if it will be a logistical nightmare for a time going North East from here).  What a time to make arrangements to car-shop and get my paperwork together.

Just read through the comments on MimiKatz's last post on our Bridge Nightmare, and I'll square up a few things.  Minnesota has a law that for all practical purposes puts a ceiling on compensation of Public Officials, essentially it says no one can make more than the Governor, and the legislature is watched very closely when they raise that salary.  There are a few exceptions -- the Gopher Basketball and Football Coaches make much more -- but the Leg will not make an exception for University President -- so the exceptions are not the rule.  I believe that "law" is actually in the State Constitution.  It pretty much limits high level compensation packages to about 185 thousand, and always is in the same range as a US Senator. 

Bridge Inspections -- it seems they have a lot in common with meat inspections.  Over the past 20 years or so there are many technological innovations in inspecting bridges for flaws in steel, either exposed or embedded in concrete -- it uses a version of ultra-sound to map cracks and rust and all, store it in a computer data base, allowing comparisons from one inspection to the next.  Neither State nor Federal inspection divisions have been required to buy and use this new technology, even though there is plenty of evidence that "just eyeballing it" actually catches only about 50% of the problems present.  Apparently there have been a few efforts pushed, for instance by the Civil Engineer's Organization, to change the mode of inspection, and require the use of best technology, but such efforts have never gotten out of committee in Congress.  Well maybe now is the time to push again.  It is a matter of Hear no Evil, See no Evil, Smell no Evil.  Meat Inspectors have the same problem -- do you sample fresh killed meat using bio analysis, or do you just continue to have the inspectors just look at the sides of beef?  What good fancy new technology if we don't adopt it?

I think we are in luck with regard to finding out why the I-35W Bridge collapsed.  Turns out that one of the new employees of the US Dept of Transportation is a guy who did his PhD here in Minnesota, and his Thesis project involved building a computer model of This Bridge, and demonstrating with great precision how it behaved as an ageing structure.  They can use the video of the failure, plus evidence of the direction of displacement, and run it against the Thesis Model of the Bridge, and very quickly reproduce the dynamics of the failure.  As of yesterday they were saying it would save the NTSB perhaps 9 months of study.  What they seem to be telling us is that this "style" of Bridge has no real redundency in it -- if one critical member fails, the whole thing falls down.  This was understood with the Silver Bridge Failure over the Ohio River a few years after the I-35W bridge was constructed, and design criteria were modified requiring more redundency -- but it was too late for this one, and about 700 others, mostly built for the Interstate System, around the country.  Apparently they no longer build this style bridge.

So understanding the problem probably will require going back into the mists of the early 1960's when the design contracts were let, and taking a good critical look at the assumptions of that period.  I seriously doubt if they comprehended traffic volume, truck weights, and all the rest that apply today at the time of design, and I suspect we'll find many modifications have been made over the years that did not go back and look at those assumptions before adding traffic, weight, and all the rest, and modifications -- such as adding extra lanes further stressed the structure. 

In fact, all this may take us back to the famous 1962 Governor's election which was fought at the end over poor design of I-35, use of poor quality concrete in some of the roadways, poor design of interchanges -- many issues.  That election was famous because the Republican Governor, Anderson, came up short by about 135 votes, but we had a recount that extended from November into March, and from January to March we had two Governors -- Anderson stayed in the formal Governor's office, and they tucked Rolvaag into the Basement.  Finally in March the court opinioned that Karl Rolvaag, the DFL'er was the winner, and he moved upstairs.  The I-35 issues have always been viewed as the core of that election.  I think in the next months we will be revisiting all that ancient history.  (It is also of interest because it demonstrates how to conduct an honest recount of a close election -- perhaps we can address two issues here.)

But more recent politics will also come into play.  Transportation and Public Transit  have been major electorial issues in the last two State Elections.  In the 90's, either Ventura (who underfunded highways by a large margin) and a series of Republican Governors bought into the Privatization philosophy, and did everything they could to stop major projects.  Light Rail, for instance, was delayed by about ten years on their argument that no one would ride it -- the one line now open connecting downtown Mpls with the Airport and then the Mall of America and a huge Park and Ride lot in the southern suburbs, has had, in the two years of operation about four times the original estimated use.  Because it basicly serves commuters who otherwise would use 35W to get to downtown workplaces, they are going to be kissing the rails for the next two or three years.  Downtown Council already has a plan in the works for downtown businesses to subsidize commuter passes for their employees. 

During the legislative session just concluded Pawlenty vetoed a gas tax that would have speeded up Light Rail Development, (beginning in 2004, the electorate began electing DFL'ers who believe in Transit to the Legislature and as of last November, the DFL controls both houses by a reasonable, but not outlandish margin).  Pawlenty also went through the Transportation Funding Bill, and line item vetoed virtually all of the innovative projects.  But as of yesterday it looks like he has caved in -- yes, he will allow for a special session to re-do the stuff he yanked and vetoed, he is open to a nice hike in the Gas Tax, he has already authorized 25 new busses for a park and ride system to serve downtown from the East and North, and he is willing to go to 75 new busses.  Essentially his philosophy took a tumble along with the I-35W bridge. 

I don't know how many watched the Mayor's Newsconference on Thursday -- it was on CNN and MSNBC, but that was the public cave in event.  Keith Ellison, Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman (not known for any love of street cars or busses) were all there, promising quick appropriations for getting things cleaned up and moving ahead with planning for a replacement bridge -- but Pawlenty was being all lovey dovey with Larry Pogemiller, majority leader of the Senate who had gone Eye to Eye with him over the Transit and Transportation bills at the end of Session (along with the Education Bills) -- and while both houses passed the packages, Pawlenty had refused to participate in negotiations during the session, and then just slammed the vetoes at the last minute.  In fact he went to Iraq to see our National Guard when he should have been in negotiations with the Committee Chairs, and cutting a deal reflecting the outcome of the last election.  Well, the arrogance is all gone, and while he did not speak at the Mayor's News Conference, Larry was right behind the speakers with this "I told you so" look on his face, and Pawlenty was all Pogemiller this and Pogemiller that -- he knows Larry could kill him if he wanted to.  But right now the game is apparently get along, don't fight, and see just how much this situation can be used to push a really big comprehensive Transport and Transit plan while the small government Republicans still have their tails between their legs.  They are talking special session perhaps in early September, and that could be when a huge deal goes down.  And lots of folk are already busy designing replacement bridges with light rail on them as well as walkways and bike paths.  So the word is, Dream big, and be Minnesota Nice as long as possible.

The one person who apparently didn't get the message was the Lt. Governor, who was in China when the bridge went down doing some sort of trade deal.  She also serves as Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, and is even more "small government" than Pawlenty.  It looks like there is some evidence she really short changed the work that was being done this summer on the 35W bridge, though that is not totally clear at this point, but she got back from China late Thursday, and has been in defensive mode ever since.  I suspect one Legislative Demand will be for her to be relieved of her Commissioner responsibilities, and for a fairly non-partisian figure to be brought in who happens to believe that Transport and Transit is a Government responsibility.  It is very unusual for a Lt. Gov to also be a Commissioner -- and I suspect that will soon change. 

Laura Bush was here yesterday to meet first responders and victim families, and George is expected today.  Got an E-Mail last night about a riverfront demo scheduled for today "Bridges not Bombs" -- apparently the intent is to line the opposite side of the river with such signs when George looks from the E. Bank across the "Mess across the River" from the nice little area the Secret Service has cleared for him.  People living in the river facing condo's are asked to paint sheets with that message and hang them from balconies -- while others will take signs along the riverbank.  We'll see if they manage to be visable.  (Bush is here now -- I can see the Helicopters).  I have a suspicion this will not be one of his favorite trips. 

Just to lay down some facts about the politics of the Legislative District where the downed bridge now rests.  This is the 59th Legislative District, both sides of the river, and in 2004 it voted 78% for John Kerry.  The Larry Pogemiller mentioned above is our State Senator, and he is about as progressive as one gets in the DFL.  He usually wins by about 80% of the vote.  (Larry was a student of mine back in the early 1970's).  When Republicans redistrict, they pack DFL'ers into lopsided districts -- so one consequence of that is that a senior Senator with highly progressive tendencies, wins by big margins over and over again, and becomes Majority Leader of the Senate -- and represents a district with a whole lot of critical infrastructure in it.  Our district has two Interstate Highway bridges, (one no more) and totally eight bridges that cross the Mississippi.  We also have a Lock and Damn for barges.  And we have two thirds of the University of Minnesota.  The U is about 60% a commuter Institution, with 55 thousand students and another 20-25 thousand employees.  We contain about a third of the Downtown Business district.  More than half of those who work downtown live in the suburbs.  In recent years we have moved industry off the river-bank and developed it as an urban park, but with lots of new condo developments back away from the river, but with a river view.  The Urban park is combined with lots of restaurants, shops, night clubs, -- even a stable for horses one can rent and ride for several miles along the river.  We have an old stone arch bridge built in the 1880's by James J. Hill for the Great Northern -- at one time 100 long passenger trains a day used it -- It is on the National Historic Register -- but it was deserted years ago, and they finally renovated it, converting it into a walkway, bike path, general gathering spot, and it connects similar urban park developments on both sides of the river.  It also connects to the downtown much more high energy entertainment district.  Of course as of now the park is cut in half by the debris from the I-35 bridge -- and it may be a month or more before they can clear up enough of the mess to re-open River Roads and the walking and bike paths.  They have to bring heavy equiptment up on barges to clean things up -- and that will close much of the park.  This will make things very difficult for people living in the new condo's, and for all the businesses that depend on people having access to the area.  And oh yea, for good measure, on the West Bank the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome hosts the Twins, the Vikings and the Gophers.  Seats about 50 thousand.  A few blocks north -- the Minnesota Timberwolves are in the Target Center. Next to the downed Bridge is the new Gutherie Theatre -- four stages.  Put mildly, there are hundreds of interests in this area that were totally dependent on that 8 lane highway.  It is going to require a vast amount of Government intervention to accommodate all these interests, and at the same time build new bridges.  It is going to be an interesting next few years.   

Comments

[Neil]

Sara thanks for the post. I'll watch the news coverage and see if I can spot the signs... Bridges not Bombs. My best to you, your family, friends and neighbors.

[Neil]

Sara, CNN's coverage of Commander Codpiece in Minn.MN. so far was limited to a shot of him disembarking Marine One with a military escort and tight shots of him at the bridge with no signage in the background.

If folks want the message to get out, they'd better record it off the local news and post it on YouTube.

[Carolyn in Baltimore]

Sara-
Thanks for the post. It is great to be able to get a good picture on an issue that is both local and national w/out going to the MSM (Pravda USA).
Local politics are fascinating.
And so is the propensity to not record what looks bad. Bridge inspections, meat and food inspections. No body counts in Iraq. And they stopped counting salmon on NW rivers to help the dam operators.....
Government should work, dammit!

[Ishmael]

Sara - thanks for the post, I love reading about nuts and bolts politics in other jurisdictions. Failing infrastructure stories seem to be panicking the Republicans, the pushback has already begun that transportation spending is all of the "bridge to nowhere" variety, and not a prudent public investment that can benefit everyone and encourage sensible energy and land development policies. Today, Keith Ellison and another Minnesota Democrat were slammed on CNN, the piece was on Congressional "earmark" spending, and Ellison was slammed for an earmark supporting "light rail", as was the other Democrat. No context at all on the earmark, that would have been too much work. It was easier for the Norquist types to get away with strangling the baby when it was education and other programs that suffered from the Prop 13 mentality, the effects are more long term and less obvious, but when bridges start collapsing and steam pipes start exploding, people tend to notice such things. Bravo for the excellent report from a state that I had always associated with good government, the DFL branch of the Democratic party, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, - HOW did the Colemans and the Venturas and so forth ever get established there?

[rukus]

Thanks for the post. Very informative and a good history and overview of the problem.

It also read like a good episode of The Sopranos or Deadwood if you substitute "shot" for "subdued".

[Nell]

Many thanks for another outstandingly informative post. Keep us posted for any local visuals that show the reception Bush gets.

And heartfelt best wishes to you and all metro area Minnesotans dealing with the aftermath over the next year.

[Boo Radley]

Per everyone else thanks Sara.
AP Photo of "Support Bridges Not War" sign.

[P J Evans]

The GOoPers that don't support transportation spending probably drive to work from their suburban 'estate homes' (their cars are probably leased, too). Well, most of them, I think. Then they complain about traffic ....

[theexog]

When Norquist et al were waxing poetic about shrinking the government until they could drown it in the bathtub, I don't suppose they realized that it would be American citizens in the Mississippi River....

[Neil]

Wasn't Norquist taking a percentage of every dollar he laundered for Ralph Reed from Abramoff's Native Americano Scam? Why isn't Norquist in jail? Let's have some straight talk about that clusterF#$% John McCain.

[RAM]

My buddy the retired bridge inspector here in Illinois advises all to pay attention when the Pontis Bridge Inspection program comes up in the investigation. Pontis was vigorously pushed by the Minnesota DOT to other states. Illinois looked at it and decided that it might be slightly valuable, with many changes, as only one tool to use in evaluating bridges. Nowadays, they've pretty much dropped it altogether.

A few other points: Virtually every large bridge that's failed is of the twin beam design. When one beam goes, the whole bridge collapses. To illustrate this, hold a couple straws in one hand parallel to each other and balance a playing card on them. Then remove one of the straws. The playing card in this instance matches the behavior of a bridge deck when one beam fails. This design means when one of the beams needs replacing, the entire bridge has to be shut down. Modern bridges have many beams holding up their decks and so can be repaired a lane at a time. They also don't fall down when one beam fails.

Second, my friend says that if bridge inspectors are properly trained and do their jobs, they will be effective. Bridge inspectors do not make decisions on whether bridges should be repaired or replaced. They inspect and make recommendations based on those inspections. Decisions on repairs and replacements are always political decisions made by managers and politicians. My buddy was frequently pressured to raise or lower bridge inspection scores by higher-ups. He refused, ever, to do so because, as he said, when he would at some time in the future, be called to testify before Congress concerning a bridge failure, he wanted to do so with a clear conscience.

For what it's worth, his prediction immediately after the bridge fell, and before the security video of the fall was released, was that it was likely one of the beams at the end of the bridge that failed, not one of the beams in the middle of the bridge.

It will be interesting to see what eventually happens with this, but I think we'd be safe in placing bets that political interference and placing efforts to save money (including schemes like Pontis) above making sure the bridge was safe will be the eventual outcomes.

[Melanie]

Sara, again, thank you. I moved away from the Cities in 1978 and haven't really kept up on local politics. I'm in the DC area now and have plenty of input to feed my political jones around here. I remember the '62 fight over I-35 and my baby brother drove over that bridge on Wednesday morning. This whole story feels like a punch in the stomach to me: when I was at the U, lived in Dinkytown, blocks away from the bridge and drove it nearly every day.

[janinsanfran]

Sara -- thanks. What occurs to me reading your story is the considerable confidence you folks seem able to have in Minnesota that your DFL legislators will actually fight for transportation money now that tragedy has created the political opening. I wouldn't have that confidence in the Dems in Sacramento -- too many have ties to too many highway contractors.

Hope folks make the most of it!

[Sara]

RAM -- good information. There is some sort of political decision on record, which has not yet been completely fessed up to, regarding the level of repair to the Bridge this year, that interests many of us. They did a "half inspection" and got a recommendation to attach steel plates to some of the truss sections and beams to reinforce them -- then they got a second consultant in and got another opinion, and decided on the resurfacing and joint work instead of the reinforcement. No one mentioned till it fell down that it was planned to completely rebuild it in 2020. Now they are saying -- well it was scheduled to be rebuilt in a few years -- yea, nice to know that. The Lt. Governor who is also the Commissioner of Administration was the one who decided on the cosmetic re-surfacing rather than the more expensive re-inforcement plan. I think this issue is stewing in the background, cause the Governor is all about claiming that if he had known -- if he had only known the bridge was dangerous, he would have "done something" -- maybe like line item veto a few more projects in the Transportation Bill. (HA) I gotta wonder what our Lt. Governor, Commissioner of Transportation was doing in China -- maybe trying to sell them a bridge???

So Bush was here, and while he was here Congress voted us 250 Million for a new bridge, and apparently Bush agrees to sign the emergency appropriation. One report has it that he was introduced to one of the divers on the Sheriff's team, but instead to talking the bridge, or diving, Bush discussed Airplanes with him. The diver is also a pilot. (Is Bush Scatterbrained??)

NTSB says that one assumption, that the bridge failed on the South Side, which had the significant displacement, can probably be ruled out, so now they are working on the North Side -- and that is just the west end of the bridge. No known recoveries today -- but one very badly crushed car hauled out may have a body inside. They have to pull it apart. Tomorrow they will start pulling the cars off the bridge remains. They seem to be speeding everything up, so I hope they are not compromising the investigation. Today the FBI appeared on the scene with some sort of high tech laser camera that has never been used before in public, but that maps down to the 16th of an inch.

[Sara]

Janinsanfran -- well we won 19 seats in the State House of Representatives last fall, mostly in suburban areas, with the campaigns out there focused on Transportation and Transit -- so the DFL, at last in control of both houses again, wrote a forward looking piece of legislation, and then Pawlenty pulled it to pieces -- no to the gas tax on philosophical grounds, and no to many other pieces. It was a huge fight at end of session. So yea, I think they will try to get as much as possible. Most DFL'ers take the public funding for campaigns -- so not so many depend on the road lobby.

And this is something everyone will be watching very closely.

[TomJ]

One thing I have heard, and noticed from the video is that an additional lane was added in each direction. The video shows that the outside lane is snapped in at least one direction. If lanes were added and the bridge was a parking lot with maximum weight at the time of the collapse, maybe this was to blame. The most likely initial cause is too much load, but was the maximum load reduced by the jack-hammering done during the resurface? The repeating impacts could have caused more aging, very much more aging. I think of the Wa State Tacoma Narrows bridge which was downed by wind.

[dead last]

This bridge, New Orleans, and Pat Tillman are all related. Our infrastructure and social fabric are disintegrating before our eyes. "I pledge 'No New Taxes!!!'" is the refrain that we hear, but what do we get in return? A Dow at 14,000?

The Dow is a thermometer that is telling us we are sick and unstable. The symptoms of the disease are incompetence at directing a disaster recovery, the inability to fix the plumbing (so to speak) on our roadways. And the inability or unwillingness to tell the truth when something does go wrong. Oh, because there might be some liability, someone might find out. and it is better that a Nation dwell in unbelief rather than someone tell the truth. Well, I am sick of it.

I want someone to change the channel. But only I can do that.

[Mr. Bonzo]

Just read through the comments on MimiKatz's last post on our Bridge Nightmare, and I'll square up a few things. Minnesota has a law that for all practical purposes puts a ceiling on compensation of Public Officials, essentially it says no one can make more than the Governor, and the legislature is watched very closely when they raise that salary. There are a few exceptions -- the Gopher Basketball and Football Coaches make much more -- but the Leg will not make an exception for University President -- so the exceptions are not the rule. I believe that "law" is actually in the State Constitution. It pretty much limits high level compensation packages to about 185 thousand, and always is in the same range as a US Senator.

--------------------------

Hmmm...

Something seems not quite right here.

Bruininks's salary

The board also agreed to raise President Robert Bruininks's base salary by 5 percent for each of the next two years: to $365,925 for 2005-06 and $384,212 in 2006-07. Bruininks' deferred compensation will also increase by $25,000 for each of the remaining years of the contract, which expires on June 30, 2008.

"This has been a time of bold and decisive leadership at the University in large part because of the performance of President Bruininks," said Board of Regents chair Anthony Baraga. "The compensation changes approved today are recognition of that leadership--and an important step in remaining competitive with comparable universities."

----------source:

http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Regents_approve_biomedical_initiative_to_move_the_U_among_the_top_3_public_research_universities.html

[prostratedragon]

Thank you Sara and commenters, for this informative post which I have read with unglazed eyes and will keep handy for reference as this story continues.

I gotta wonder what our Lt. Governor, Commissioner of Transportation was doing in China -- maybe trying to sell them a bridge???

More likely looking for some kind of bridge financing* from the Chinese government, and not necessarily for the use of MN.

"I pledge 'No New Taxes!!!'" is the refrain that we hear, but what do we get in return? A Dow at 14,000?

Temporarily. And as you imply, that's quite meaningless. But the party in power will apparently not be satisfied until they prove once again that they can neither prevent nor ease a Depression (Not that I'm calling one, dagnabbitt!).

====
*A sign of the recently impending credit crunch is that banks have been getting stuck with bridge loans that they made to corporate borrowers who now cannot arrange the regular financing that's supposed to come in and replace the bridge. One hears their cries for aid unto the Federal Reserve through the night … (Amazing how the catastrophic collapse of buildings in the financial district ushered in a period of sudden collapse of enron, worldcom, adelphia, arthur andersen, lots of other stuff—and now the catastrophic collapse of a bridge occurs at the beginning of what is likely to be a godawful period of financial bridge failure. What are we up to?)

[Larry Lagarde]

Although I'm in New Orleans, the I-35W bridge collapse hits very close to home. We have ancient bridges over the Mississippi River that date from the Depression days of Huey P Long (every man a king). In fact, the bridge named after Huey that crosses the Mississippi is currently being widened from 2 rail lines and 2 narrow lanes to 2 rail lines and 3 wide lanes with a shoulder. Being at a dead stop at the top of this span when a train passes is unnerving (can anyone say shake, rattle & roll). But I digress.

Be it FEMA's lawyers telling staff not to test formaldehyde levels in Katrina trailers so FEMA can claim not to know, the US Army Corps of Engineers claiming that the hurricane protection levees in New Orleans would easily withstand a Cat 3 hurricane, President Bush saying that we're winning the war in Iraq, or reports that deficient bridges like I-35W are safe to drive over, the evidence is clear. We must demand proof that our public infrastructure is safe AND accountability from the politicians/leaders that make these claims.

[gbear]

Thanks for a really insightful overview of what's happening here. You commented on a lot of things that the papers and news are tiptoing around.
If I may, I'd like to add a few points:
1. The StarTrib did post segments of a Carol Mulnou presser where she comes off as combatative and unapologetic; completely unwilling to accept any responsibility for the collapse. So many of Pawlenty's commisioners have this same attitude thru disaster after disaster (it was recently discovered that the health dept had sat for a whole year on reports detailing cancer deaths on the iron range. this is but one coverup).
2. There was a groundbreaking ceremony for a new heavily subsidized Twins stadium scheduled for the day after the bridge collapse. The event was cancelled because of the outrage that would have occurred over giving millions to billionaire Carl Pohlad for the Twins while people died on crumbling infastructure 10 blocks away.
3. Along with Sara's excellent report, the commentary of columnist Nick Coleman in the Mpls. Star Tribune has been a must-read. Nick is angry and ready to point fingers.

[MarkH]

Elect a Republican...your bridge collapses.
Elect a Democrat...ride light rail to town.

I read an article in MySA.com today (San Antonio) and it told of a federal law making it illegal to reveal to the public information from a bridge safety report. I wonder if that might change now.

Transparency is a good thing.

[treepeony]

Of course our taxes DO go up in Minnesota, but they are shunted to city governments and other entities and we pay the price in such costs as the shut-down of branch libraries because Minneapolis lacks the money to keep them open. A few blocks east of the bridge, and a couple blocks north of the University of Minnesota, the Dinkytown library is closed, and the neighborhood looks shabbier every year. The untended lawn of the library is grown up with weeds, now brittle and brown because of the drought and neglect, and two young ginkgo saplings planted by the city next to the curb have also died. While the sanctimonious governor trumpets No New Taxes, he has bled the cities dry. Throughout his term, citizens have posted yard signs declaring their WILLINGNESS to pay taxes for decent lives. The costs remain but are merely less visible, as city government struggles to keep our heads above water. Less visible until now, when we are paying the bills in such tender as our crushed and drowned neighbors, millions in cleanup costs, and the price of the backlog of work that has to be done anyway. The pusillanimous snake oil governor better retire to the deep woods and keep his head down for the rest of his life. And take Michelle Bachmann and the rest of their putative Christian gang with him. The next election will give them such a taste of Minnesota nice as they never dreamed lived under our decorous exteriors. In the meantime, I hope our legislature get everything they wanted, including extension of the light-rail system, with icing on it.

[readerOfTeaLeaves]

If a few more governors and state leaders (especially throughout the Mountain West) see Pawlenty pay a political price for his ardent 'tax cut' ideology, then perhaps some of the onlookers will think twice about vetoeing gas taxes and other infrastructure revenue streams.

I've been through endless hours of meetings at which politicos and appointeds failed to read engineering recommendations, failed to ask good questions, and then treated good engineering advice like disposable crap. Not surprisingly, I've also seen engineers (generally the best, most dedicated engineers) become cynical and sour -- a rational response to being repeatedly ignored. Instead of doing good work, these engineers write up boilerplate reports, produce generic work, and shift their emotional energy from transportation issues to baseball. I'd be curious to know how much of that went on at MN.

I've also noted that when as an elected official gains a reputation as a hard working, passionate, innovator, they become Talent Magnets. Resumes mysteriously turn up on their desks in the dead of night; they can pretty much hire the best, brightest talent. Doesn't happen often enough.

In your post, you allude to a set of related issues that all fall under 'urban design': commuter routes, parkways, bike paths... all of these types of infrastructure require government leadership, and the cities in the West with the best 'livability' indexes are all figuring out a way to implement the types of urban amenities you mention. The most 'livable' cities are getting a grip on urban design, but they're not getting help from the federal government.

With any luck, the sprawl enablers of Boise, Kalispell/Whitefish, Baker OR, Denver, Salt Lake City, Pendelton, etc, are all going to watch what happens in Mpls. Will Pawlenty end up paying a political price for sacrificing the Public Infrastructure baby on the altar of his Free Market, No Taxes ideology?

Al Gore raised the issues of urban design/sprawl, and also public infrastructure, in 2000. But David Broder and the rest of the MSM mocked Gore sneeringly for pointing out that urban design has profound, cumulative effects on sprawl, oil consumption, and global warming. (Duh.) Let's hope that this tragedy highlights the need for better urban planning -- one reason people in the West have been reluctant to pay taxes is because they're forever subsidizing sprawl. If their taxes went to something more appealing, they'd be less bitter. I'm unclear about whether MN has the same political dynamic.

(BTW: The only candidate that I've heard connect the dots between housing, transportation, global warming, and energy issues is Bill Richardson. Judging from what I've seen, Pawlenty is clueless. Not surprising, in view of the fact that this whole conversation was mocked in 2000; how would Pawlenty know about issues that have never been discussed as part of the national conversation? He wouldn't. And look what the result is.

Tragic.

[Sara]

Yes, today featured three calls for removing Carol Molnau as Commissioner of Transportation from Legislative Leaders. Apparently she has not been confirmed for her second term yet, so it is highly likely she will be unconfirmed. She is also Lt. Governor -- and it is highly irregular to have a constitutional officer also head a department. She was interviewed today and stuck to her guns on the theme, "no new taxes". I predict she will be gone in September. Commissioners are supposed to advocate the needs of their Departments -- she has been a ditto head for Pawlenty's philosophy.

Minnesota is supposedly ranked 12th best in the nation in taking care of infrastructure. (Alabama has no bridge inspectors, apparently). But Minnesota used to be third. This is coming to be an enlightening issue as local reporters dig into the history. Why did our ranking drop?

Yes, we have lots of bike paths. We have good advocates for them, and in the last two decades many have been incorporated into construction. But not nearly enough, and not necessarily in the right places. Now that they have re-opened the stone arch bridge, you can see one of the bike connecters to downtown a bit upstream from the 35W bridge site.

Light Rail is quite another story. We have one line open -- it took more than 20 years to build, finance, and plan, and it connects Downtown Mpls with the Airport and the Mall of America. There is another commuter rail, the NorthStar Line, that has planning and finance done, with construction to begin soon. It connects Big Lake with Down Town Mpls, designed to take traffic off 94, and it can ultimately go to St. Cloud. There are about 7 additional light rail routes planned --but thus far no financial plan. What Pawlenty Vetoed this year was investment in futher planning and financial organization, as well as a go ahead on the Central-University construction. (Congress has already earmarked money for this and it took some fancy dancing at the end of the last Congressional session to save that funding.) Republicans just don't like publicly owned and operated transit systems. However after saying no one would ride the Hiawatha line which opened about two years ago -- they now face the fact that ridership is 4 times what was predicted. As Treepoeny put it, they may get slapped with some very special Minnesota Nice come next election day.

As to lanes added to the bridge. No, they just rejiggered the lanes, they didn't really widen the bridge. Initially it was 6 lanes, three each way, with a break-down lane on each side. They eliminated that lane, and repainted the lanes, making for 4 in each direction.

Bridge load may not be a factor at the time of collapse as with resurfaceing underway, two lanes in each direction were closed. Thus the bridge was only carrying 50% of possible traffic load. Right now the leading surmise seems to be rusted and corroded and fractured steel in the superstructure. There is a consultant's recommendation about suggesting reinforcing the superstructure with steel plates, sent to MN-DOT last year. That was rejected in favor of resurfacing.