The National Bridge Inventory

Elana Centor — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 08:14:47 -0500

In doing some research for a post on the bridge collapse for my blog FunnyBusiness I came across the National Bridge Inventory run by the IRE - Investigative Reporters and Editors. I decided to join to gain access to the database. I'm hoping to have access by Monday to try to get a better understanding of the state of America's bridges and what other city's are doing.

In wake of the Minneapolis disaster, they have a list of articles on the state of bridges across the country.,

elana
Blogher Contributing Editor,Business&CareersFunnyBusiness

Bridge Tragedy Spurs Politicians While Divers Search

Erin Kotecki Vest — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:50:59 -0500

Reuters reports U.S. politicians treated the collapse of a highway bridge that killed or injured dozens of people as a jarring wake-up call to fix the nation's aging roads and bridges, but experts have been sounding the alarm for years with limited success.

Governors in at least four states -- Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Pennsylvania -- ordered new bridge inspections or were considering them following the collapse of the highway bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Other governors ordered administrative reviews, while federal lawmakers demanded action.

Kirsten http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=10393371...
writes, “You might be thinking, ‘But weren't they working on the bridge at the time it fell?’ Yes they were. But the size of the bridge was not wide enough for the proposed superhighway... so one way or another, it had to come down anyway. There was once an elected official who repeatedly enacted policies to make the people of his country feel safe from the communist terrorist enemies.... his name was HITLER.... wake up, and educate yourself.”

Work That We Do http://mrs-djs.livejournal.com/22695.html “It's so scary-that something like this happened so close to home--in fact, we just went over that bridge less than two weeks ago.”

Catherine http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=46158630...
says, “…it happened yesterday during rush hour...ohhh my god.”

Doctor Mom http://doctormom.net/?p=82 writes, “…Yes, I travel that bridge often, since I was a kid. At one point daily as I worked at a nearby hospital. I am feeling a call to serve and feel quite guilty that I am not currently at work in the trauma hospital that I left only a year ago.”

The search for bodies in the Mississippi River was painstakingly slow as divers navigated debris and coped with low visibility after Wednesday's deadly bridge collapse, officials said.

CNN reports about 15 divers from local counties did a bank-to-bank search Thursday afternoon and found 11 vehicles, including an 18-wheeler, said Lynn Schwartz, Communication Specialist for the Bridge Collapse Command Center.

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The National Bridge Inventory

Bridge Tragedy Spurs Politicians While Divers Search