October 23, 2019 • 28 mins
Bridges are built to connect us and get us to where we need to be. Some people cross bridges to get to work, while some visit famous ones that leave them in awe. But what happens if a bridge leaves us fighting for our lives instead? Listen to Episode 20 and learn about the collapse of Bridge 9340.
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Music: "Humbled in a Battle" by Antti Luode (http://anttismusic.blogspot.com)
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Follow us on Twitter @UntimelyPodcast
Music: "Humbled in a Battle" by Antti Luode (http://anttismusic.blogspot.com)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Lindsey woke up, got ready,and went to work. The day was
nothing special, just a regular Wednesday, hump day and the start of a
new month. It was still summerand she can still enjoy the warmth of
the sun and when she gets home, as her friends and colleagues called her,
went about her day at the grouphome, caring for troubled teenagers,
(00:31):
making sure there needs are met andher job done. As the clock ticked
and turned day into afternoon, Lizended her day and thought of home.
Finally, another day's hard work isdone. Liz got in her car and
headed west. The sun was stillup, and she'll get home in time
to enjoy a lovely summer evening.Since she's done this drive many times,
(00:54):
you can say Liz was on autopilot. She was cruising along the road when
all of a sudden, the interstateher car was on was just gone.
Every muscle and Lizze's body froze.Every muscle and Lizze's body froze. She
inhaled sharply and held her breath asher car plunged into the dark, murky
(01:14):
waters underneath the interstate. She wasjust on the interstate, and now it's
not there. Her car hit thesurface of the water, making a loud,
splashing noise. Liz was helpless.It wasn't something she was ready for.
As her car plunged down deeper anddeeper, the car's bumper made a
(01:34):
dull thump as it met the bottomof the river. She unbuckled and tried
to get out, but her carstarted to fill with water almost immediately,
and what was left of the airshe can breathe was slowly running out.
She thought to herself. There isno way I can get out in time.
Liz finally realized that this may bethe day that she was going to
(01:57):
die. You're listening to Untimely,a podcast about untimely deaths in earlier or
recent history that left damages in itsway. I'm your host Lynn. In
(02:17):
New York, the most heavily usedbridge in twenty sixteen is the white Stone
Expressway Bridge in Queens, with abouttwo hundred eighteen thousand vehicles crossing every day.
In San Francisco, the Golden GateBridge supports about one hundred and twelve
thousand cars daily. These two citiesand bridges are two of the most populated
cities in the United States, andevery day, thousands of motorists cross a
(02:40):
bridge for work, vacations, ortransporting goods, even in a smaller city
like Minneapolis. In Minnesota, commutersand commercial products passed through bridges to get
from point eight to point B,no matter the reason. In this episode
of untimely will travel to one ofthe twin cities in Minnesota where a typical
day of crossing a bridge for thousandsbecame a hellish nightmare for hundreds. Minnesota
(03:19):
standard license plate proudly states land often thousand lakes. In reality, there
are eleven thousand, eight hundred fortytwo lakes with at least ten acres in
size. Impressive right, of course, to navigate this state riddled with lake
shores and views, it makes senseto build something to cross over the bodies
of water. Bridges. To date, Minnesota has nineteen thousand, seven hundred
(03:44):
and seventy six bridges. Local municipalitiesown about fifteen thousand, one hundred eighty
seven while the rest is maintained bythe state. The average age of these
bridges is sixty six years. Intwenty fourteen, it was survey that eight
hundred thirty bridges in Minnesota were deemedstructurally deficient, the local and state governments
(04:06):
have a lot of catching up todo. One of these bridges maintained by
the state is Bridge nine three fourzero. The bridge was designed as a
continuous truss bridge, which is abridge without any joints or hinges across three
or more support columns. Bridge ninethirty four zero is one thousand, nine
(04:26):
hundred and seven feet long or fivehundred eighty one meters and one hundred thirteen
feet wide or thirty four point fivemeters. It towers over the Mississippi River
about one hundred fifteen feet high orthirty five meters above the water level,
and its longest span without supports isfour hundred and fifty six feet or one
hundred thirty nine meters. From thesurface of the river to the edge of
(04:49):
the bridge clear sixty four feet ornineteen point five meters. The bridge has
a split deck, meaning the twolanes going east and west are not connected.
The building of Bridge nine thirty fourzero started in nineteen sixty four,
and its reported cost at that timewas about five point two million in twenty
nineteen dollars that's about forty three million. Two construction companies were contracted to build
(05:14):
the bridge, but one of them, Perkon Incorporated, backed out of the
negotiations with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, citing an issue with one of its
piers. The other company, IndustrialConstruction, continued the project and finished and
then opened to the traffic in Novembernineteen sixty seven. Approximately one hundred forty
four thousand vehicles passed on the bridgedaily. The bridge connects two neighborhoods in
(05:41):
Minneapolis, Downtown East and Marcy Homes. Aside from being known as Bridge nine
three four zero, Interstate Highway thirtyfive West uses this bridge as a part
of its route to cross the MississippiRiver. After the bridge opened to the
public, it was inspected every twoyears, then annual after nineteen ninety five.
(06:02):
Coming from the Midwest, I canassure you that Minnesota's winters can be
brutally cold and damp. This typeof weather takes a toll on roads and
most definitely affects bridges. On Decembernineteen, nineteen eighty five, a major
vehicle pile up accident on the northboundside of the bridge occurred due to the
accumulation of black ice. And forthose of you who have lived in only
(06:26):
sunny and warm climates. Black iceis a transparent, thin, frozen layer
of ice that blankets road surfaces,which makes the roads turn into skating rinks.
Black ice is formed when light rain, drizzle, or snow falls on
the ground and the temperature drops belowzero fahrenheit. No amount of gripping,
tired treads, or reliable breaks canstop a car once it coasts on black
(06:51):
ice. I have experienced driving onblack ice while I lived in Chicago,
and it can be terrifying even forthe experienced driver. However terrifying it is
on roads, black ice is muchmuch worse on bridges. This is because
the surrounding air passes through above andbelow. In nineteen ninety nine, the
(07:12):
Minnesota Department of Transportation or m DOTbegan testing several chemical solutions to spray on
the road surface of bridge nine threefour zero to decrease the amount of black
ice formation. In December of thesame year, temperature activated nozzles were installed
that would spray the bridge with asolution of potassium acetate as soon as it
(07:33):
drops the freezing point. Luckily,this solution was a success. It was
quite fortunate that this solution worked becausein the case of bridge nine three four
zero. Black ice forms rapidly evenwithout rain or snow. This is because
water steadily spreads on the road surfacesince the bridge is near Saint Anthony Falls.
(07:59):
Louis hennep born Antoine in Belgium wasa Catholic priest under the Order of
Saint Francis, missionary at the behestof King Louis fourteenth of France. Hennepin
was one of the missionaries whose purposewas to explore the western areas past New
France. As a quick background,New France at its height covered most of
(08:20):
eastern Canada up to Saskatchewan in thewest, and far south in New Orleans.
In sixteen eighty, while Hennepin wason a mission, he observed and
documented the falls on his journal.Once found, he named the falls after
his patron, Saint Saint Anthony ofPadua. If you've heard the name Louis
Hennepin before, it's because he wasalso credited as one of the first persons
(08:43):
to describe and document another famous waterfall, the Niagara Falls. In eighteen sixty
nine, the natural falls collapsed,but was replaced within apron or a concrete
overflow. In the nineteen fifties andsixties, the falls became a part of
a series of flocks and dams throughoutthe Mississippi River. Two of these dams
(09:05):
were converted into hydroelectric dams to harnessthe power of the river to supply electricity
to businesses and residences near the falls. The falls was instrumental in turning the
area into the urban development the townof Minneapolis thrived alongside the river in Saint
Anthony Falls. Nowadays, the SaintAnthony Falls Historic District is a must sea
(09:28):
tourist attraction with beautiful churches, famouslandmarks, and is considered the heart of
Minneapolis. In nineteen ninety, thefederal government gave Bridge nine three four zero
a rating of structurally deficient due tothe corrosion found in its bearings. The
(09:48):
Minnesota Department of Transportation did their bestto address the issues, cracks found in
the cross girders, distortions in thepoint bearings, and stress cracks all over.
Port struts were added to the crossgirders and holes were drilled in specific
cracks to prevent it from expanding.Despite the efforts made to stabilize the bridge,
(10:11):
fifteen years later, it was againrated a structurally deficient and will possibly
need to be replaced. More stresscracks were found, and this time structural
fatigue was evident. To give youa sense of how bad Bridge nine three
four zero was, Bridge inspectors useda sufficiency rating for all bridges. The
range is from zero as the lowestscore and one hundred as the highest.
(10:37):
In two thousand and five, Bridgenine three four zero was rated at fifty.
Now you're probably thinking, well,that's not too bad, but in
the same rating period, out ofone hundred thousand heavily used bridges like Bridge
nine three four zero, only fourpercent scored under fifty. While all this
(10:58):
was happening, Minnesotans continued to crossBridge nine three zero. So, with
that statistic in mind and the ratingof fifty by Bridge Inspectors and receiving a
structurally deficient rating from the federal government, a plan was formalized in December two
thousand and six to reinforce the bridge, but a month later this plan was
(11:20):
scrapped, citing that retrofitting the bridgewill weaken the bridge further. Instead,
the Minnesota Department of Transportation will performfrequent safety checks. Fast forward to seven
months later, the wait house servesthe needy of Minneapolis for a long time.
(11:43):
Many of the programs offered by thisinstitution has helped build lives and supported
the basic needs of anyone from youthto senior and in between. The staff
of the wait House consists of employeesand volunteers, and each one of them
passionate and determined to serve the communityas much as they can. During the
summer, the Waite House offered camps, field trips, projects, and diverse
(12:07):
activities to children from kindergarten to eighthgrade. In two thousand and seven,
the White House plan to bring thekids to a nearby water park as a
part of the summer series. Obviously, as a big fan of water parks
myself, I could just imagine howexcited the kids were to go and how
sad I would have been to beheading back. On August first, the
(12:31):
Waite House brought fifty two kids acrosstown to the nearest water park. Making
sure things were all excellent, wereeight staff members, mostly youth counselors in
high school and college. One ofthe counselors was Jeremy Hernandez. For a
whole summer's day, the kids andstaff enjoy the fun and excitement that a
day at a water park can bring, But as the day turned into the
(12:52):
afternoon, it was time to packit up. By five thirty pm,
the school bus, carrying everyone onboard, made its way back to the
wait house. Jeremy, along withthe other councilors, were quite exhausted.
While the bus closted away from thewater park. He was sitting near the
back, leaned against the window andstarted to doze off. At the helm
(13:15):
of the school bus was Kim.Her son and daughter were two of the
fifty two who went to the waterpark. From time to time, Kim
would look at her passengers to checkon them. The adults look exhausted,
while the kids continued to play gamesand recalled the day's events with one another.
As Kim drove the school bus,she thought of the easiest route to
take back. They were already runninglate. The bus was scheduled to arrive
(13:41):
at the wait house at six pm. At this rate, Kim thought there
was no way they will make itback in time. Then she thought if
she took I thirty five west andcrossed the bridge, they will get there
faster. So Kim turned the busand headed towards Saint Anthony Falls around the
same time. Greg Joelstead, orJolly, known to his family and colleagues,
(14:03):
was on Bridge nine three four zerothat day with seventeen other employees of
the Progressive Contractor's construction company. Theproject they were working on was to resurface
the bridge road. It was alreadylate in the evening and rush hour was
at its peak. Jolly was onthe skidloader, a massive construction tool used
in various projects. Jolly is eagerto get home to his wife. It
(14:26):
was a long way back home fromwhere he was, about ninety miles or
one hundred forty four kilometers one way, but the work was good and pay
the bills. As he was drivingthe skidloader, he felt the engine shake.
It usually does, of course,but this time it felt a little
off, like it was swinging theentire bridge. Sarah Mundy Evans was on
(14:50):
her way home from work. Shewas cruising slowly on I thirty five West,
going southbound on the bridge, typicalrush hour traffic. She thought,
look around her were over a hundredvehicles moving along the same way she is.
Suddenly she witnessed something quite strange.About ten cars ahead of her.
(15:11):
The roads started to crumble and fall. At first, she thought that a
sinkhole formed in the middle of thehighway. Sinkhole's happened, especially in Minnesota,
where the weather wears out road surfacesevery year. But then she saw
that car started to disappear. Thiswas not a sinkhole. The bridge was
collapsing, breaking into sections like jigsawpuzzles, and began to plunge down the
(15:35):
river below them. When the roadunderneath her car dropped down, Sarah gripped
her steering wheel tight, holding onfor dear life. Her car plummeted down
along with others around her. JeremyHernandez was awakened by a forceful jolt in
a loud bang. When he openedhis eyes, the bus was weightless and
(16:00):
he felt his body lifted up inthe air. Then another loud bang,
and the bus dropped down, andso did he. The kids in the
bus started screaming. For a second, he thought he was dreaming, but
then the bus dropped down again.Dust clouds filled the air and he could
barely see, but he can definitelyhear. He heard the kids crying for
(16:23):
help. It was then when Jeremylooked outside and realized that the school bus
was leaning on a slab of concretepitched to its right side, and in
front of them the bridge collapsed.Vehicles were plunging down the river. Luckily,
the bus was not anywhere near themiddle of the bridge, but it
(16:44):
was just right above the river bank. The road surface was slowly sinking into
the water from the weight of thebus. A semi trailer truck on their
left side was almost down the riveritself, except for the last two wheels
still spinning above the road. Thetrailer was on fire and spreading fast.
(17:06):
One of the councilors tried to openthe front door of the bus, but
it was jammed. Jeremy had todo something. They were trapped. Quickly,
he kicked the back door of thebus as hard as he can until
it swung open. Jeremy jumped downand two other councilors followed. They formed
an assembly line and helped every kidon that bus to get out. Many
(17:27):
were bloody and hurt. Kim,the bus driver, was one of the
last people to get out. Shefound her son and daughter, gave them
the tightest hug and thanked Jeremy forgetting them out. Within six minutes of
the collapse, the first fire enginecompany from Minneapolis arrived to initiate rescue operations.
(17:48):
Neighboring cities and counties rushed to thescene and started helping people who were
stuck inside their cars. Boats fromthe fire department aided people whose cars were
partially submerged, all this while knowingthat there were probably multiple vehicles totally submerged
in the river. Sheriff Fridge Stanekwas on his way to a meeting when
(18:10):
he heard the report on his patrolcars radio. Without hesitation, he flicked
on his lights and turned his cararound and sped towards the bridge. Approximately
thirty minutes after the collapse, hearrived at Saint Anthony lock and Dam,
just north of the fallen bridge.Minneapolis police and firefighters were already in the
(18:30):
area. He jumped on one ofthe fireboats, and as the damp's gates
opened, he became witnessed to thecarnage and chaos, the black smoke pillars
coming from the car engines, orangeand red flames from several spots, metal
heaps from vehicles crumpled like soda cans, and worst of all, people in
the water screaming for help. Fortunatewants were able to make it to shore,
(18:55):
where civilians in some law enforcement werereaching out to them. The Saint
Anthony Historic District was devastated. Theairbags on Sarah's car deployed as it crashed
onto some debris above the river's surface. She was able to get out and
climbed what was left of the bridge. Another survivor on a bicycle took her
(19:17):
away from the destruction. Once theyreached the street, a good Samaritan drove
her to a hospital. Sarah survivedthis harrowing experience. One of the emergency
medical teams on a boat was closeto a partially submerged chunk of bridge,
where it carefully took one of thesurvivors who was underwater for quite a while.
Lindsey Wallace's car was completely submerged atthe bottom of the Mississippi River.
(19:41):
She remembered her vehicle filling up withwater and her struggle to breathe. Somehow,
she was able to get out ofthe car, and she kicked her
way up to the surface, evadingdebris as it continued to fall down.
Once of the surface, a constructionworker trapped in one of the bridge's sections
yelled at her to whim towards thebridge, who was reaching out to her
(20:02):
using a broom to pull her in. Within eighty one minutes, at least
one hundred forty five people were broughtto area hospitals, most of them suffering
from blunt trauma injuries. Of thefifty two children on board the school bus
from the wait house, twenty twowere treated for external injuries. Firefighters checked
partially submerged vehicles for survivors. Threehours after the collapse, all of the
(20:27):
survivors stranded around the area of thebridge were evacuated. The harrowing task of
finding those who are still lost inthe river began. Despite the quick action
of law enforcement, bystanders willingness tohelp, and the courage of those who
were on the bridge, thirteen peopledied while over one hundred were injured.
(20:49):
The oldest victim was sixty years oldand the youngest a two year old girl.
It was a devastating loss for thecity of Minneapol. Lists at a
nearby holiday inn, a temporary rescueand relief center was organized by the city,
state and Red Cross. It alsobecame the staging area for rescuers.
(21:11):
Families were encouraged to go to thesite and talk to the officials and councilors
and find out if their loved oneswho were rescued or worse recovered. The
Red Cross counseled survivors who experienced trauma. For three agonizing weeks, Navy search
and recovery divers braved the cold andmurky water of the Mississippi River, working
(21:34):
almost NonStop to find those who werestill missing. One by one, the
bodies were recovered, but after twoweeks, the divers were still looking for
two more of the missing. Becauseof the bridge debris in the river,
the divers needed help removing heaps ofmetal and concrete to search thoroughly. The
city brought in a crane, excavationdrills, low torches, and construction workers
(21:59):
who helped cut through the beams andtrusses in and around the wreckage site.
Fortunately, the crew was able toremove eighty of the presumed eighty eight vehicles
submerged in the river. Around sixto fifteen pm, nineteen days after the
accident, the final body was recovered. Greg Joelstad's body was finally returned to
(22:21):
his family. The recovered bridge debriswas temporarily stored off site. Following an
investigation Initially, Sheriff's Stanik declared thearea as a crime scene. As this
was years after nine to eleven andthe threat of terrorism loomed over the United
States, the National Transportation Safety Boardwas charged with the task of investigating the
(22:44):
collapse, while a private company wasalso hired by the state of Minnesota to
conduct a separate investigation. The NTSBtook samples of the collapsed bridge for materials
testing, interviewed witnesses and survivors,as well as collective foe ros and videos
of the accident and previous safety inspections. While the investigation is ongoing, the
(23:07):
state of Minnesota was granted federal emergencyfunding in response to the accident. At
that time, the cap for emergencyfunding was one hundred million dollars, but
both Congress and Senate drafted a billthat increased the capped two hundred and fifty
million. On August sixth, thenPresident George W. Bush signed the bill
(23:27):
into law, which benefited the stateof Minnesota with a clean up and disaster
recovery of the area. The Presidentvisited the site two days before signing the
bill. Within the state, bothDemocratic and Republican parties united to fund and
plan and replacement for Bridge nine threefour zero almost immediately after the disaster.
(23:51):
Planning and construction of the new bridgestarted in December of the same year.
The new bridge was to be designedas a ten lane highway that can accommodate
public buses and in the future,a light rail. In engineering terms,
the designing of the new bridge wasa post tensioned precast box girder with a
(24:11):
total length of one thousand, twohundred and sixteen feet or three hundred seventy
one meters one hundred eighty feet wideor fifty five meters in about one hundred
twenty feet high or thirty seven meters. The new bridge's clearance from the surface
of the river is much lower thanits predecessor, with about seventy feet or
(24:32):
twenty one meters. The new bridge, now called Saint Anthony, falls,
open to the public on September eighteen, two thousand and eight, three months
earlier than estimated. Installed in thenew bridge are three hundred twenty three censors
to measure in the bridge's conditions atany point in time. The NTSB released
(24:56):
the results of their investigation in Novembertwo thousand and eight. The solution of
potassium acetate was thought to have addedto the corrosion of the structure, but
from the NTSB's report, it wasnot a contributing factor to the collapse.
After almost a year of investigation,it was concluded that design flaws were to
(25:17):
be blamed on the wreck. Thebridges gusset plates, which were steel plates
connecting beams and trusses to the concretecolumns, were severely undersized in some photos.
The NTSB found several gusset plates supportingthe bridge were bending under the extreme
weight above. In addition to theincorrect gusset plates, at least two inches
(25:41):
of concrete were added over the yearsoff resurfacing the bridge. This added weight,
plus the weight of construction vehicles andmaterials, were cited as factors in
the collapse. The state of Minnesotacompensated the victims of the bridge at around
thirty eight million dollars. The statethen brought litigation against Jacob's Engineering Group,
(26:02):
a company that bought the original bridgedesigners. The company argued that the bridge
was designed in the nineteen sixties andany fault would be impossible to prove.
The case even reached the US SupremeCourt, and its decision was to side
with the state. In November twentyand twelve, the company settled with the
State of Minnesota to the tune ofeight point nine million, even though the
(26:26):
company never admitted fault. Four yearsafter the collapse, the thirty five West
Memorial Garden was opened to the publicin remembrance of the victims and survivors.
The design of the garden was ledby Tom Ousland, a well renowned landscape
architect, with the help and inputfrom the survivors and families of those who
(26:48):
died. During the ceremony, thenames of the thirteen victims were read out
loud, and at six o fivepm, the time of the collapse,
a moment of islands followed. Thememorial garden is located in the parkway near
the new bridge. In the memorialare thirteen I beam columns made of glass
(27:11):
with the names and stories of eachvictim. Each column is eighty one feet
or twenty five meters high, whichsymbolizes the numbers eight and one for August
one, the date of the bridgecollapse. The survivors are also recognized in
a black granite wall behind the columns. This quote was also engraved. Our
(27:33):
lives are not only defined by whathappens, but by how we act in
the face of it. Not onlyby what life brings us, but by
what we bring to life. Selflessactions and compassion create enduring community out of
tragic events. Thank you for listeningto this episode of Untimely. I am
(28:08):
curious about what you think about thisepisode. Let us know by sending your
thoughts to Untimely podcast at gmail dotcom, and if you can spare a
few minutes, please rate and reviewus on your favorite podcast platform. It
helps us make the podcast better.Connect with us on Twitter at untimely Podcast.
We'd love to hear from you.
Lindsey woke up, got ready,and went to work. The day was
nothing special, just a regular Wednesday, hump day and the start of a
new month. It was still summerand she can still enjoy the warmth of
the sun and when she gets home, as her friends and colleagues called her,
went about her day at the grouphome, caring for troubled teenagers,
(00:31):
making sure there needs are met andher job done. As the clock ticked
and turned day into afternoon, Lizended her day and thought of home.
Finally, another day's hard work isdone. Liz got in her car and
headed west. The sun was stillup, and she'll get home in time
to enjoy a lovely summer evening.Since she's done this drive many times,
(00:54):
you can say Liz was on autopilot. She was cruising along the road when
all of a sudden, the interstateher car was on was just gone.
Every muscle and Lizze's body froze.Every muscle and Lizze's body froze. She
inhaled sharply and held her breath asher car plunged into the dark, murky
(01:14):
waters underneath the interstate. She wasjust on the interstate, and now it's
not there. Her car hit thesurface of the water, making a loud,
splashing noise. Liz was helpless.It wasn't something she was ready for.
As her car plunged down deeper anddeeper, the car's bumper made a
(01:34):
dull thump as it met the bottomof the river. She unbuckled and tried
to get out, but her carstarted to fill with water almost immediately,
and what was left of the airshe can breathe was slowly running out.
She thought to herself. There isno way I can get out in time.
Liz finally realized that this may bethe day that she was going to
(01:57):
die. You're listening to Untimely,a podcast about untimely deaths in earlier or
recent history that left damages in itsway. I'm your host Lynn. In
(02:17):
New York, the most heavily usedbridge in twenty sixteen is the white Stone
Expressway Bridge in Queens, with abouttwo hundred eighteen thousand vehicles crossing every day.
In San Francisco, the Golden GateBridge supports about one hundred and twelve
thousand cars daily. These two citiesand bridges are two of the most populated
cities in the United States, andevery day, thousands of motorists cross a
(02:40):
bridge for work, vacations, ortransporting goods, even in a smaller city
like Minneapolis. In Minnesota, commutersand commercial products passed through bridges to get
from point eight to point B,no matter the reason. In this episode
of untimely will travel to one ofthe twin cities in Minnesota where a typical
day of crossing a bridge for thousandsbecame a hellish nightmare for hundreds. Minnesota
(03:19):
standard license plate proudly states land often thousand lakes. In reality, there
are eleven thousand, eight hundred fortytwo lakes with at least ten acres in
size. Impressive right, of course, to navigate this state riddled with lake
shores and views, it makes senseto build something to cross over the bodies
of water. Bridges. To date, Minnesota has nineteen thousand, seven hundred
(03:44):
and seventy six bridges. Local municipalitiesown about fifteen thousand, one hundred eighty
seven while the rest is maintained bythe state. The average age of these
bridges is sixty six years. Intwenty fourteen, it was survey that eight
hundred thirty bridges in Minnesota were deemedstructurally deficient, the local and state governments
(04:06):
have a lot of catching up todo. One of these bridges maintained by
the state is Bridge nine three fourzero. The bridge was designed as a
continuous truss bridge, which is abridge without any joints or hinges across three
or more support columns. Bridge ninethirty four zero is one thousand, nine
(04:26):
hundred and seven feet long or fivehundred eighty one meters and one hundred thirteen
feet wide or thirty four point fivemeters. It towers over the Mississippi River
about one hundred fifteen feet high orthirty five meters above the water level,
and its longest span without supports isfour hundred and fifty six feet or one
hundred thirty nine meters. From thesurface of the river to the edge of
(04:49):
the bridge clear sixty four feet ornineteen point five meters. The bridge has
a split deck, meaning the twolanes going east and west are not connected.
The building of Bridge nine thirty fourzero started in nineteen sixty four,
and its reported cost at that timewas about five point two million in twenty
nineteen dollars that's about forty three million. Two construction companies were contracted to build
(05:14):
the bridge, but one of them, Perkon Incorporated, backed out of the
negotiations with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, citing an issue with one of its
piers. The other company, IndustrialConstruction, continued the project and finished and
then opened to the traffic in Novembernineteen sixty seven. Approximately one hundred forty
four thousand vehicles passed on the bridgedaily. The bridge connects two neighborhoods in
(05:41):
Minneapolis, Downtown East and Marcy Homes. Aside from being known as Bridge nine
three four zero, Interstate Highway thirtyfive West uses this bridge as a part
of its route to cross the MississippiRiver. After the bridge opened to the
public, it was inspected every twoyears, then annual after nineteen ninety five.
(06:02):
Coming from the Midwest, I canassure you that Minnesota's winters can be
brutally cold and damp. This typeof weather takes a toll on roads and
most definitely affects bridges. On Decembernineteen, nineteen eighty five, a major
vehicle pile up accident on the northboundside of the bridge occurred due to the
accumulation of black ice. And forthose of you who have lived in only
(06:26):
sunny and warm climates. Black iceis a transparent, thin, frozen layer
of ice that blankets road surfaces,which makes the roads turn into skating rinks.
Black ice is formed when light rain, drizzle, or snow falls on
the ground and the temperature drops belowzero fahrenheit. No amount of gripping,
tired treads, or reliable breaks canstop a car once it coasts on black
(06:51):
ice. I have experienced driving onblack ice while I lived in Chicago,
and it can be terrifying even forthe experienced driver. However terrifying it is
on roads, black ice is muchmuch worse on bridges. This is because
the surrounding air passes through above andbelow. In nineteen ninety nine, the
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Minnesota Department of Transportation or m DOTbegan testing several chemical solutions to spray on
the road surface of bridge nine threefour zero to decrease the amount of black
ice formation. In December of thesame year, temperature activated nozzles were installed
that would spray the bridge with asolution of potassium acetate as soon as it
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drops the freezing point. Luckily,this solution was a success. It was
quite fortunate that this solution worked becausein the case of bridge nine three four
zero. Black ice forms rapidly evenwithout rain or snow. This is because
water steadily spreads on the road surfacesince the bridge is near Saint Anthony Falls.
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Louis hennep born Antoine in Belgium wasa Catholic priest under the Order of
Saint Francis, missionary at the behestof King Louis fourteenth of France. Hennepin
was one of the missionaries whose purposewas to explore the western areas past New
France. As a quick background,New France at its height covered most of
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eastern Canada up to Saskatchewan in thewest, and far south in New Orleans.
In sixteen eighty, while Hennepin wason a mission, he observed and
documented the falls on his journal.Once found, he named the falls after
his patron, Saint Saint Anthony ofPadua. If you've heard the name Louis
Hennepin before, it's because he wasalso credited as one of the first persons
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to describe and document another famous waterfall, the Niagara Falls. In eighteen sixty
nine, the natural falls collapsed,but was replaced within apron or a concrete
overflow. In the nineteen fifties andsixties, the falls became a part of
a series of flocks and dams throughoutthe Mississippi River. Two of these dams
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were converted into hydroelectric dams to harnessthe power of the river to supply electricity
to businesses and residences near the falls. The falls was instrumental in turning the
area into the urban development the townof Minneapolis thrived alongside the river in Saint
Anthony Falls. Nowadays, the SaintAnthony Falls Historic District is a must sea
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tourist attraction with beautiful churches, famouslandmarks, and is considered the heart of
Minneapolis. In nineteen ninety, thefederal government gave Bridge nine three four zero
a rating of structurally deficient due tothe corrosion found in its bearings. The
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Minnesota Department of Transportation did their bestto address the issues, cracks found in
the cross girders, distortions in thepoint bearings, and stress cracks all over.
Port struts were added to the crossgirders and holes were drilled in specific
cracks to prevent it from expanding.Despite the efforts made to stabilize the bridge,
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fifteen years later, it was againrated a structurally deficient and will possibly
need to be replaced. More stresscracks were found, and this time structural
fatigue was evident. To give youa sense of how bad Bridge nine three
four zero was, Bridge inspectors useda sufficiency rating for all bridges. The
range is from zero as the lowestscore and one hundred as the highest.
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In two thousand and five, Bridgenine three four zero was rated at fifty.
Now you're probably thinking, well,that's not too bad, but in
the same rating period, out ofone hundred thousand heavily used bridges like Bridge
nine three four zero, only fourpercent scored under fifty. While all this
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was happening, Minnesotans continued to crossBridge nine three zero. So, with
that statistic in mind and the ratingof fifty by Bridge Inspectors and receiving a
structurally deficient rating from the federal government, a plan was formalized in December two
thousand and six to reinforce the bridge, but a month later this plan was
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scrapped, citing that retrofitting the bridgewill weaken the bridge further. Instead,
the Minnesota Department of Transportation will performfrequent safety checks. Fast forward to seven
months later, the wait house servesthe needy of Minneapolis for a long time.
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Many of the programs offered by thisinstitution has helped build lives and supported
the basic needs of anyone from youthto senior and in between. The staff
of the wait House consists of employeesand volunteers, and each one of them
passionate and determined to serve the communityas much as they can. During the
summer, the Waite House offered camps, field trips, projects, and diverse
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activities to children from kindergarten to eighthgrade. In two thousand and seven,
the White House plan to bring thekids to a nearby water park as a
part of the summer series. Obviously, as a big fan of water parks
myself, I could just imagine howexcited the kids were to go and how
sad I would have been to beheading back. On August first, the
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Waite House brought fifty two kids acrosstown to the nearest water park. Making
sure things were all excellent, wereeight staff members, mostly youth counselors in
high school and college. One ofthe counselors was Jeremy Hernandez. For a
whole summer's day, the kids andstaff enjoy the fun and excitement that a
day at a water park can bring, But as the day turned into the
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afternoon, it was time to packit up. By five thirty pm,
the school bus, carrying everyone onboard, made its way back to the
wait house. Jeremy, along withthe other councilors, were quite exhausted.
While the bus closted away from thewater park. He was sitting near the
back, leaned against the window andstarted to doze off. At the helm
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of the school bus was Kim.Her son and daughter were two of the
fifty two who went to the waterpark. From time to time, Kim
would look at her passengers to checkon them. The adults look exhausted,
while the kids continued to play gamesand recalled the day's events with one another.
As Kim drove the school bus,she thought of the easiest route to
take back. They were already runninglate. The bus was scheduled to arrive
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at the wait house at six pm. At this rate, Kim thought there
was no way they will make itback in time. Then she thought if
she took I thirty five west andcrossed the bridge, they will get there
faster. So Kim turned the busand headed towards Saint Anthony Falls around the
same time. Greg Joelstead, orJolly, known to his family and colleagues,
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was on Bridge nine three four zerothat day with seventeen other employees of
the Progressive Contractor's construction company. Theproject they were working on was to resurface
the bridge road. It was alreadylate in the evening and rush hour was
at its peak. Jolly was onthe skidloader, a massive construction tool used
in various projects. Jolly is eagerto get home to his wife. It
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was a long way back home fromwhere he was, about ninety miles or
one hundred forty four kilometers one way, but the work was good and pay
the bills. As he was drivingthe skidloader, he felt the engine shake.
It usually does, of course,but this time it felt a little
off, like it was swinging theentire bridge. Sarah Mundy Evans was on
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her way home from work. Shewas cruising slowly on I thirty five West,
going southbound on the bridge, typicalrush hour traffic. She thought,
look around her were over a hundredvehicles moving along the same way she is.
Suddenly she witnessed something quite strange.About ten cars ahead of her.
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The roads started to crumble and fall. At first, she thought that a
sinkhole formed in the middle of thehighway. Sinkhole's happened, especially in Minnesota,
where the weather wears out road surfacesevery year. But then she saw
that car started to disappear. Thiswas not a sinkhole. The bridge was
collapsing, breaking into sections like jigsawpuzzles, and began to plunge down the
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river below them. When the roadunderneath her car dropped down, Sarah gripped
her steering wheel tight, holding onfor dear life. Her car plummeted down
along with others around her. JeremyHernandez was awakened by a forceful jolt in
a loud bang. When he openedhis eyes, the bus was weightless and
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he felt his body lifted up inthe air. Then another loud bang,
and the bus dropped down, andso did he. The kids in the
bus started screaming. For a second, he thought he was dreaming, but
then the bus dropped down again.Dust clouds filled the air and he could
barely see, but he can definitelyhear. He heard the kids crying for
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help. It was then when Jeremylooked outside and realized that the school bus
was leaning on a slab of concretepitched to its right side, and in
front of them the bridge collapsed.Vehicles were plunging down the river. Luckily,
the bus was not anywhere near themiddle of the bridge, but it
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was just right above the river bank. The road surface was slowly sinking into
the water from the weight of thebus. A semi trailer truck on their
left side was almost down the riveritself, except for the last two wheels
still spinning above the road. Thetrailer was on fire and spreading fast.
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One of the councilors tried to openthe front door of the bus, but
it was jammed. Jeremy had todo something. They were trapped. Quickly,
he kicked the back door of thebus as hard as he can until
it swung open. Jeremy jumped downand two other councilors followed. They formed
an assembly line and helped every kidon that bus to get out. Many
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were bloody and hurt. Kim,the bus driver, was one of the
last people to get out. Shefound her son and daughter, gave them
the tightest hug and thanked Jeremy forgetting them out. Within six minutes of
the collapse, the first fire enginecompany from Minneapolis arrived to initiate rescue operations.
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Neighboring cities and counties rushed to thescene and started helping people who were
stuck inside their cars. Boats fromthe fire department aided people whose cars were
partially submerged, all this while knowingthat there were probably multiple vehicles totally submerged
in the river. Sheriff Fridge Stanekwas on his way to a meeting when
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he heard the report on his patrolcars radio. Without hesitation, he flicked
on his lights and turned his cararound and sped towards the bridge. Approximately
thirty minutes after the collapse, hearrived at Saint Anthony lock and Dam,
just north of the fallen bridge.Minneapolis police and firefighters were already in the
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area. He jumped on one ofthe fireboats, and as the damp's gates
opened, he became witnessed to thecarnage and chaos, the black smoke pillars
coming from the car engines, orangeand red flames from several spots, metal
heaps from vehicles crumpled like soda cans, and worst of all, people in
the water screaming for help. Fortunatewants were able to make it to shore,
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where civilians in some law enforcement werereaching out to them. The Saint
Anthony Historic District was devastated. Theairbags on Sarah's car deployed as it crashed
onto some debris above the river's surface. She was able to get out and
climbed what was left of the bridge. Another survivor on a bicycle took her
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away from the destruction. Once theyreached the street, a good Samaritan drove
her to a hospital. Sarah survivedthis harrowing experience. One of the emergency
medical teams on a boat was closeto a partially submerged chunk of bridge,
where it carefully took one of thesurvivors who was underwater for quite a while.
Lindsey Wallace's car was completely submerged atthe bottom of the Mississippi River.
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She remembered her vehicle filling up withwater and her struggle to breathe. Somehow,
she was able to get out ofthe car, and she kicked her
way up to the surface, evadingdebris as it continued to fall down.
Once of the surface, a constructionworker trapped in one of the bridge's sections
yelled at her to whim towards thebridge, who was reaching out to her
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using a broom to pull her in. Within eighty one minutes, at least
one hundred forty five people were broughtto area hospitals, most of them suffering
from blunt trauma injuries. Of thefifty two children on board the school bus
from the wait house, twenty twowere treated for external injuries. Firefighters checked
partially submerged vehicles for survivors. Threehours after the collapse, all of the
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survivors stranded around the area of thebridge were evacuated. The harrowing task of
finding those who are still lost inthe river began. Despite the quick action
of law enforcement, bystanders willingness tohelp, and the courage of those who
were on the bridge, thirteen peopledied while over one hundred were injured.
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The oldest victim was sixty years oldand the youngest a two year old girl.
It was a devastating loss for thecity of Minneapol. Lists at a
nearby holiday inn, a temporary rescueand relief center was organized by the city,
state and Red Cross. It alsobecame the staging area for rescuers.
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Families were encouraged to go to thesite and talk to the officials and councilors
and find out if their loved oneswho were rescued or worse recovered. The
Red Cross counseled survivors who experienced trauma. For three agonizing weeks, Navy search
and recovery divers braved the cold andmurky water of the Mississippi River, working
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almost NonStop to find those who werestill missing. One by one, the
bodies were recovered, but after twoweeks, the divers were still looking for
two more of the missing. Becauseof the bridge debris in the river,
the divers needed help removing heaps ofmetal and concrete to search thoroughly. The
city brought in a crane, excavationdrills, low torches, and construction workers
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who helped cut through the beams andtrusses in and around the wreckage site.
Fortunately, the crew was able toremove eighty of the presumed eighty eight vehicles
submerged in the river. Around sixto fifteen pm, nineteen days after the
accident, the final body was recovered. Greg Joelstad's body was finally returned to
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his family. The recovered bridge debriswas temporarily stored off site. Following an
investigation Initially, Sheriff's Stanik declared thearea as a crime scene. As this
was years after nine to eleven andthe threat of terrorism loomed over the United
States, the National Transportation Safety Boardwas charged with the task of investigating the
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collapse, while a private company wasalso hired by the state of Minnesota to
conduct a separate investigation. The NTSBtook samples of the collapsed bridge for materials
testing, interviewed witnesses and survivors,as well as collective foe ros and videos
of the accident and previous safety inspections. While the investigation is ongoing, the
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state of Minnesota was granted federal emergencyfunding in response to the accident. At
that time, the cap for emergencyfunding was one hundred million dollars, but
both Congress and Senate drafted a billthat increased the capped two hundred and fifty
million. On August sixth, thenPresident George W. Bush signed the bill
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into law, which benefited the stateof Minnesota with a clean up and disaster
recovery of the area. The Presidentvisited the site two days before signing the
bill. Within the state, bothDemocratic and Republican parties united to fund and
plan and replacement for Bridge nine threefour zero almost immediately after the disaster.
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Planning and construction of the new bridgestarted in December of the same year.
The new bridge was to be designedas a ten lane highway that can accommodate
public buses and in the future,a light rail. In engineering terms,
the designing of the new bridge wasa post tensioned precast box girder with a
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total length of one thousand, twohundred and sixteen feet or three hundred seventy
one meters one hundred eighty feet wideor fifty five meters in about one hundred
twenty feet high or thirty seven meters. The new bridge's clearance from the surface
of the river is much lower thanits predecessor, with about seventy feet or
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twenty one meters. The new bridge, now called Saint Anthony, falls,
open to the public on September eighteen, two thousand and eight, three months
earlier than estimated. Installed in thenew bridge are three hundred twenty three censors
to measure in the bridge's conditions atany point in time. The NTSB released
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the results of their investigation in Novembertwo thousand and eight. The solution of
potassium acetate was thought to have addedto the corrosion of the structure, but
from the NTSB's report, it wasnot a contributing factor to the collapse.
After almost a year of investigation,it was concluded that design flaws were to
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be blamed on the wreck. Thebridges gusset plates, which were steel plates
connecting beams and trusses to the concretecolumns, were severely undersized in some photos.
The NTSB found several gusset plates supportingthe bridge were bending under the extreme
weight above. In addition to theincorrect gusset plates, at least two inches
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of concrete were added over the yearsoff resurfacing the bridge. This added weight,
plus the weight of construction vehicles andmaterials, were cited as factors in
the collapse. The state of Minnesotacompensated the victims of the bridge at around
thirty eight million dollars. The statethen brought litigation against Jacob's Engineering Group,
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a company that bought the original bridgedesigners. The company argued that the bridge
was designed in the nineteen sixties andany fault would be impossible to prove.
The case even reached the US SupremeCourt, and its decision was to side
with the state. In November twentyand twelve, the company settled with the
State of Minnesota to the tune ofeight point nine million, even though the
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company never admitted fault. Four yearsafter the collapse, the thirty five West
Memorial Garden was opened to the publicin remembrance of the victims and survivors.
The design of the garden was ledby Tom Ousland, a well renowned landscape
architect, with the help and inputfrom the survivors and families of those who
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died. During the ceremony, thenames of the thirteen victims were read out
loud, and at six o fivepm, the time of the collapse,
a moment of islands followed. Thememorial garden is located in the parkway near
the new bridge. In the memorialare thirteen I beam columns made of glass
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with the names and stories of eachvictim. Each column is eighty one feet
or twenty five meters high, whichsymbolizes the numbers eight and one for August
one, the date of the bridgecollapse. The survivors are also recognized in
a black granite wall behind the columns. This quote was also engraved. Our
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lives are not only defined by whathappens, but by how we act in
the face of it. Not onlyby what life brings us, but by
what we bring to life. Selflessactions and compassion create enduring community out of
tragic events. Thank you for listeningto this episode of Untimely. I am
(28:08):
curious about what you think about thisepisode. Let us know by sending your
thoughts to Untimely podcast at gmail dotcom, and if you can spare a
few minutes, please rate and reviewus on your favorite podcast platform. It
helps us make the podcast better.Connect with us on Twitter at untimely Podcast.
We'd love to hear from you.
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