Thursday, August 2, 2007

Terrible news from the Twin Cities




The above photos do not show the true scale of the bridge failure in Minneapolis/St. Paul earlier today, but give you an idea of how devastating this must be.

The finger pointing hasn't started yet, but is sure to reach epic proportions before this story recedes into memory. Was it the repairs ongoing that caused it? Was it just a question of infrastructure failure from lack of maintenance? Minor earthquake? Gov't sources are quick to claim no connection to a terrorist nexus. Who knows? No one seems to right now.

The good news is that a busload of children apparently escaped, as did many others. The toll will certainly be terrible, nonetheless.

We are about to build a bridge on Saipan. Let's be sure we do a good job of it, engineering and construction wise. As I understand it, the new one is to replace one that failed due to typhoon damage.

Can you imagine the stresses on a span across the channel to Tinian? In addition to the Billion-dollar price tag, it is probably not such a great idea. Let's review this footage the next time someone brings it up.

4 comments:

glend558 said...

Bruce, the guy always with a wily comment. Where is there a bridge on Saipan? Did you hear they let the Dog out? Yup, exonerated completly, no going to Mexico for him.

bigsoxfan said...

Hey Bruce, I see Stan has developed some teeth. Reminds me of the killer rabbit from Mnty Pytns. "the holy grail" Better ready the "holy hand grenade of Antioch" One thing you can say about the government, "they employ people who would otherwise be unemployable"

waterworks said...

Hey, wait a minute.... didn't Bruce work in or for the CNMI government sometime in the mid to late 90's???? Or am I just repeating something that is just the usual Saipan gossip.

Bruce A. Bateman said...

Glen, the bridge to be rebuilt, at huge cost I might add, is on the baack road tentively called Chalan Windward and spans a small gorge/drainage on it's way to the sea. It is between Kingfisher Golf Course and Kalabara Cave and connects the two. Most of that road is passable, but it is a two track in many spots and cuts over some private land too, or at least is fenced in some places.

Mark: Yeah, looks like he gets a little bent if someone has a different opinion. I'll be mentioning HIS businesses in the next reply. And his publicly paid car expenses as well. Should be fun.

Simon: Yep, usual Saipan gossip.