Category: bridges

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St Anthony Bridge Construction 2

Another perspective on the 35W St. Anthony Bridge Construction.

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Minneapolis: Theme Day - Numbers

Nine Months ago today on August first at 6:05pm, the 35W Interstate Bridge plunged into the Mississippi River during the evening rush hour taking thirteen lives. There were over 100 cars on the bridge at the time and they fell 115 feet to the river — it is truly amazing that so many survived. Now 140,000 vehicles that used to cross the bridge each day must mind a new route. For a river town, that's hard to do. The new St. Anthony Falls Bridge is under construction 24 hours a day and should be open on Christmas Eve, this year.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in the City Daily Photo Theme Day Albuquerque (NM), USA by Helen, American Fork (UT), USA by Annie, Arradon, France by Alice, Aspen (CO), USA by IamMBB, Athens, Greece by Debbie, Auckland, New Zealand by Lachezar, Austin (TX), USA by LB, Avignon, France by Nathalie, Barrow-in-Furness, UK by Enitharmon, Barton (VT), USA by Andree, Belgrade, Serbia by Bibi, Bellefonte (PA), USA by Barb-n-PA, Bicheno, Australia by Greg, Bogor, Indonesia by Gagah, Boston (MA), USA by Cluelessinboston, Boston (MA), USA by Sarah, Whit, & Leyre, Bucharest, Romania by Malpraxis, Budapest, Hungary by agrajag, Buenos Aires, Argentina by Karine, Busan, Korea South by iamnbinb, Canterbury, UK by Rose, Chandler (AZ), USA by Melindaduff, Chateaubriant, France by Bergson, Cheltenham, UK by Marley, Chesapeake Daily Photo (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Chicago (IL), USA by Focused Light, Christchurch, New Zealand by Michelle, Clearwater (FL), USA by Smaridge01, Clearwater Beach (FL), USA by Smaridge01, Cleveland (OH), USA by iBlowfish, Cologne, Germany by April11, Concordia Sagittaria, Italy by Patrizia, Coral Gables (FL), USA by Jnstropic, Corsicana (TX), USA by Lake Lady, Dallas (TX), USA by turtle, Darmstadt, Germany by Elsch, Dunedin (FL), USA by Smaridge01, Durban, South Africa by CrazyCow, East Gwillimbury, Canada by Your EG Tour Guide, Evry, France by Olivier, Forks (WA), USA by Mary, Geneva (IL), USA by Kelly, Glasgow, Scotland by Jackie, Greenville (SC), USA by Denton, Gun Barrel City (TX), USA by Lake Lady, Hamilton, New Zealand by Sakiwi, Hampton (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Helsinki, Finland by Kaa, Hobart, Australia by Greg, Hong Kong, Hong Kong by Rachel A., Hyde, UK by Gerald, Inverness (IL), USA by Neva, Ioannina, Greece by Christos-Ioanna, Jackson (MS), USA by Halcyon, Jefferson City (MO), USA by Chinamom2005, Jogjakarta, Indonesia by Jogja Portrait, Joplin (MO), USA by Victoria, Katonah (NY), USA by Inkster1, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by Edwin, Kyoto, Japan by Tadamine, Larchmont (NY), USA by Marie-Noyale, Las Vegas (NV), USA by Mo, Le Guilvinec, France by ds2944, Lisbon, Portugal by Sailor Girl, Lisbon, Portugal by Maria João, Lodz, Poland by ritalounge, London, UK by Mo, London, UK by Ham, Mainz, Germany by JB, Malaga, Spain by Paula, Manila, Philippines by Heyokity, Maple Ridge, Canada by Susan, Marseille, France by Alex, Medan, Indonesia by KT, Melbourne, Australia by John, Melbourne, Australia by Mblamo, Memphis (TN), USA by SouthernHeart, Menton, France by Jilly, Mexico City, Mexico by Carraol, Mexico City, Mexico by Poly, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Mitch, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Greg, Minsk, Belarus by Olga, Misawa, Japan by misawa mama, Monrovia (CA), USA by Keith, Monte Carlo, Monaco by Jilly, Monterrey, Mexico by rafa, Montpellier, France by Marie, Moscow, Russia by Irina, Mumbai, India by Magiceye, Mumbai, India by Kunalbhatia, Nancy, France by yoshi, Nashville (TN), USA by Chris, Nelson, New Zealand by Meg and Ben, New Orleans (LA), USA by steve buser, New York City (NY), USA by Ming the Merciless, New York City (NY), USA by • Eliane •, Newport News (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Norfolk (VA), USA by ptowngirl, North Hampton (NH), USA by Amy, Norwich, UK by Goddess888, Nottingham, UK by Gail's Man, Ocean Township (NJ), USA by Josy, Omsk, Russia by Nataly, Orlando (FL), USA by OrlFla, Oslo, Norway by Lothiane, Owasso (OK), USA by Jennifer, Paderborn, Germany by Soemchen, Paris, France by Eric, Pasadena (CA), USA by Petrea, Pasadena (CA), USA by Can8ianben, Penang, Malaysia by Maltelda, Perth, Australia by Elevation7, Phoenix (AZ), USA by Cheryl, Pilisvörösvár, Hungary by Elise, Port Angeles (WA), USA by Jelvistar, Port Elizabeth, South Africa by Sam, Port Townsend (WA), USA by raf, Port Vila, Vanuatu by Mblamo, Portsmouth (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Prague, Czech Republic by Honza03, Quincy (MA), USA by Cluelessinboston, Rabaul, Papua New Guinea by Jules, Ramsey, Isle of Man by babooshka, Riga, Latvia by Riga Images, Rollag, Norway by Stormel, Rotterdam, Netherlands by Ineke, Saarbrücken, Germany by LadyDemeter, Saigon, Vietnam by Simon, Saint Paul (MN), USA by Kate, Salem (OR), USA by jill, Salt Lake City (UT), USA by atc, Salt Lake City (UT), USA by Eric, San Diego (CA), USA by Felicia, San Diego (CA), USA by Zentmrs, San Francisco (CA), USA by PFranson, San Francisco (CA), USA by Louis la Vache, Seattle (WA), USA by Chuck, Seattle (WA), USA by Kim, Selma (AL), USA by RamblingRound, Seoul, South Korea by Phil, Sesimbra, Portugal by Aldeia, Setúbal, Portugal by Maria Elisa, Sharon (CT), USA by Jenny, Singapore, Singapore by Keropok, Sofia, Bulgaria by Antonia, St Francis, South Africa by Sam, Stanwood (WA), USA by MaryBeth, Stavanger, Norway by Tanty, Stayton (OR), USA by Celine, Stockholm, Sweden by Stromsjo, Stouffville, Canada by Ken, Subang Jaya, Malaysia by JC, Suffolk (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Sunshine Coast, Australia by bitingmidge, Sydney, Australia by Julie, Székesfehérvár, Hungary by Teomo, Tacloban City, Philippines by agnesdv, Tel-Aviv, Israel by Olga, Terrell (TX), USA by Bstexas, Terrell (TX), USA by Jim K, Tokyo, Japan by Tadamine, Torun, Poland by Glenn, Torun, Poland by Torun Observer, Toulouse, France by Julia, Turin, Italy by Livio, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina by Jazzy, Twin Cities (MN), USA by Slinger,

et="_new">Vichy, France by Delphsnl, Victoria, Canada by Benjamin Madison, Vienna, Austria by G_mirage2, Virginia Beach (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Wailea (HI), USA by Kuanyin, Washington (DC), USA by Rachel, Wassenaar, Netherlands by Rich, West Paris (ME), USA by crittoria, West Sacramento (CA), USA by Barbara, Weston (FL), USA by WestonDailyPhoto, Williamsburg (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Willits (CA), USA by Elaine, Yardley (PA), USA by Mrlynn

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Winter Wonderland - March 24th

My apologies to all who have tried to comment, it would appear that the wp-spamfree plugin for wordpress not only reduced my spam comments, it also prevented all comments! So, if you tried to comment over th past few days and were denied, please try again! If you get an error, please let me know! Thank you, - Mitch

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35W Bridge Collapse - New Information

I've been waiting for an opportunity to post this picture that I took on the night of the 35W bridge collapse. After my little party yesterday I was afraid it might be a downer, but a little reality is good too. The NTSB released a report yesterday saying that it was a design flaw, not maintenance issues that lead to the collapse on August 1st, 2007. Though the investigation is still going, they found that the gusset plates were too thin. Those are the steel plates they rivet the beams together with. They should be one inch thick, but were only half-an-inch thick. There's more information about this at the local paper, the Star Tribune and the New York Times. In my humble opinion, if they knew this before hand, there wasn't anything that could be done, you really can't replace those things. They might have been able to weld something to them, but it would have been a big deal to replace them without causing the bridge to collapse in the process. Back to the picture. I took this at nine pm that night. While everyone was clamoring to try and see the bridge, the first responders had the whole area fenced out. There were thousands wandering around. Everyone was so quiet and polite, We all felt like we had to come down and see; to be part of the event, but stay out of the way of the people trying to do their job. There were emergency vehicles everywhere, helicopters, news trucks and big spotlights. It was a massive event, but everyone was totally calm and serious. I spoke with several people there; some wanted to tell what they felt, others asking for information, many just talking like one does at a funeral; polite, expressive, telling tales of earlier times that they had been on the bridge. All of us wanting not to be gawkers, but to be with everyone else. All in all, it occurred to me while I was there that all my pics of the bridge area didn't show anything new, the landing helicopters weren't unique. What really struck me about being there was all the people just wandering around trying to stay out of the way, staying in the shadows. That's what I wanted to capture with this image: a major event that you really couldn't see. And all the people wanting to be there, but quietly. When the solid waste hits the rotary ventilator, I want to be in Minnesota. People just don't freak out here. They calmly do what they can and don't get in the way. Car horns are rare. Our 'natural disasters' are just something you have to deal with. It's no one's fault, just get your shovel out, work your way through and then check on the neighbors.

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Minneapolis Midtown Greenway Bridge

The Minneapolis Midtown Greenway Bridge is now open to the public! It's true, I went to the Grand Opening Ceremony last night. The mayor was there as well as all the officials that made this impressive bridge possible. It's unique in that on the side opposite of the cable stay tower is a light rail line and a power transmission line. The bridge actually threads between them. It's something to see, but not at night. I got up early this morning to go down and take these pictures. When the ceremony was over last night, it was too gray and dark to take any good pics, and since I biked over, I didn't bring the tripod for a proper night shot. I choked up the aperture to f9 at 15 seconds. I put the white balance at 5100k to get the car lights white and the bridge lights are actually blue. Noise reduction really helps the black, and yes, I like the lens flare very much, thank you. The bridge connects two trails making it possible for me (and anyone else, God I'm self-involved) to bike from my neighborhood — Uptown, Minneapolis, MN all the way to the Mississippi river on trails. The trail system in this town is pretty impressive, ONE can bike all around the cities on trails. I regularly bike to St. Paul and back on trails, a round trip of forty miles. Mayor Rybak said last night that Minneapolis is the second most biked city in the country. Lean more about the bridge and the event at the Star Tribune So hooray for Minneapolis, enjoy the new bridge and river access, I'm going back to bed. Here's the far side of the bridge — not many pictures of this bridge include the far side because it isn't that interesting. It's mostly a ramp. The cool big cable tower is there to hold everything up, because there's no room on the other side. The bridge goes over the light rail tracks and under the big powerlines.