Jan 15, 2008
Where I was when the bridge went down
Current mood:
calm
I was going to type this MONTHS ago and I never did. I wrote on a quick blog that I was still stuck in the newsroom and I got a ton of e-mails from people on here, and I'm not talking just friends. At the time I didn't have my profile set to private. But I really was surprised at the strangers who e-mailed me, I remember.calmThe 35W Bridge is not considered "old news" in the Twin Cities, even 5 months later and I'm typing this. Take a look on KSTP.com and they are looking into the gusset plates that might have caused the bridge to collapse. It won't be "old news" I would GUESS until December 2008. It is suppose to "re-open" on Dec 24th. Even when I go out to places, people are still talking about the bridge.
If and when we have interns come in, they always ask what it is like when there is breaking news at the assignment desk. We use the 35W Bridge Collapse as the best example.
I dunno where I should begin...
I'll say it again and again: at the time, I don't think the state of MN has really been this devastated since Wellstone died, which was in 2002. I went to the memorial and reported. In the end, the memorial caused a ton of controversy and a ton of sadness. The same applies to the 35W Bridge Collapse.
I get off at 6:30pm Wed-Fri evenings. It was 6:20pm and I was getting ready to leave. I was waiting for my co-worker to come back to the desk. Then I got a call from a man that the 35W Bridge had fallen into the Mississippi River. A producer told me that someone was pulling my leg. Suddenly I got another call. We then checked out the traffic cameras. There was a cloud of smoke and a huge hole. I knew that things were going to get crazy, so I paged my co-worker up to the desk right away. I dispatched our chopper pilot into the air, he was in disbelief. My co-worker sent out an all reporter, photographer and tech page. I called my old co-worker from Traffic.com and told her to come in ASAP, we needed help making some traffic maps. I think everyone was in shock. I remember I drove over it 2 days before. Nothing felt akward. To this day, people claim that when they were driving over the bridge that day it felt unsafe and wobbly.
After that the hours just flew by. Phone call after phone call. I remember I had my reporter friend from the Sioux Falls station, KSFY, call. He was driving into metro and needed a TON of PIO numbers.
There are a few things I remember...there was a point where the phone lines were getting so crazy that when Norm Coleman called I didn't recognize his voice. I remember a producer calling in telling us that she got a room at the Holiday Inn that overlooked the site. The phone call I remember the most was a woman calling in saying that she was wondering why the show "American Inventor" wasn't on. That ticked me off so much...I'll just leave it at that. I remember that 13 people died. I remember I walked out that night at 1am.
My desk manager was such a trooper. He got off at 2pm that day, came back in around 7pm ish and stayed until NOON the next day!!! He is a very dedicated guy.
Next day...I think it was the next day-- the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's site put up a page that would let us know the bodies identified from the wreck. That day I was dealing more with the national and INTERNATIONAL affiliates. That was probably the biggest pain. It's funny, because now that is one of my favorite things to do at work. I remember that Congress granted Mpls money to rebuild a new bridge- I think it was $250 million? We were on the air for...I can't remember for sure, 25hrs straight? That night I left work at midnight...and I went to the site.
The site had turned people into tourists. People from WI and all across MN came to view it. It is probably about 20 some blocks west from the station. It's one thing to look at the site on TV, but in person, it was just horrific and mostly sad. I saw people crying...I shed a few tears, but I didn't cry hard. I couldn't really get a good look, but I saw cars on the concrete in the river. At this point, everything was blocked off. If you crossed police lines, you were handcuffed and taken away. Days and days later they reopened the Stone Arch Bridge (walking bridge near the 'U'). Across at Gold Medal Park, there were hundreds of cards, stuffed animals-- just rememberance signs. I recently saw one when I was driving down University towards work. It was a little kid's handwriting that said, "We will never forget you."
Friday was the day the First Lady had to come into town because she had to talk about childhood education. She later toured the site.
The next day President Bush came to tour the site. I went back to working my normal hours.
Sunday was a special service at a church for all the victims (one, I should say, I went to high school with!).
And after that...day by day we waited for more news conferences-- and believe me, they were practically happening every hour for a WEEK-- and we awaited the names of the victims. I think we almost interviewed everyone that was on the bridge that day and the families that lost a loved one. After that part was "done," it was all about attending funerals, visitations, making sure we were at the bridge at the right time when they took certain vehciles off, such as the school bus or the Tasty Truck. During this time, we hired a freelance photog who's job was to be a stakeout at the bridge site just to make sure nothing goes wrong. Then we had to cover many, many benefits for the victims.
I learned a ton about the victims. I think the victim that got the most media attention in this whole thing, in my opinion-- is Sherry Engebretsen. She was working at Thrivent Financial downtown. At the time, they were doing construction around the bridge area. Up until that day, she had avoided it all summer and took the back roads home. She was 60.
I think Christina Sacorafas was the second most talked about. She was very involved with her church and loved to dance. I think she was 36 if I remember? I remember talking to her boyfriend on the phone. He was still shaken up.
Greg Jolstad if I recall was the construction worker that was on the bridge when it fell.
There are more...the boyfriend of Mercedes Gordon went to my college, SCSU. She survived, and they had a huge benefit party for her.
Currently, the bridge is being rebuilt. The project started a month or two later than it should've. The gov't was (and still is!) arguing about "who's fault it is." In my opinion, at the time, I didn't want the gov't to argue, we needed a quick answer and solution...there's a hole in the middle of one the most traveled freeways in the metro!!!
They had to expand 94 EB/WB between the split and Hwy 280 to four lanes. It used to be three. They are a lot narrower. They also had to remove all stoplights on Hwy 280 and block of residential streets.
When you do travel up 35W North, you have to exit at Washington Ave. Up ahead are a ton of barricades and fences. If you travel South, you have to exit at University Ave. Again, more barricades and fences.
I haven't been by the site since the day it collapsed, but when you look at our bridge camera, there are many cranes. Right now they are working on the Piers. Everytime I look at the camera, it looks the same. I think once everything starts "rising" I'll be able to tell a difference.
What is very nice is every..I think Sunday...the bridge contractors offer free tours for people so they can update them on the bridge progress. I think that is very kind and helpful of them, it gives people a brighter light and more hope. It's very important for people to know.
What I am looking fwd to is driving over the new bridge once it is done being rebuilt. I am looking forward to the NTSB being done with their investigation.
It may be the biggest year for the election (and the RNC, for you people), but it's also another big year for MN when the bridge is finished...
