35W Bridge: Link Roundup
I’m dumping the items that have caught my eye. I’d definitely recommend checking your favorite news outlet for the latest info (I recommend MPR or Channel 4000 (back online, just for bridge collapse coverage)).
Meta
- “Minneapolis Bridge Collapse & Citizen Journalism” at e-strategy.com’s Internet Marketing Blog – This is a very extensive round up of the local blog/flickr/IM/email/wiki/youtube/crowdsourcing/social network/etc response, followed by some analysis of the whole phenomenon.
- “Even a role for Twitter in a disaster” at Stephenson’s homeland security blog.
- e-democracy.org’s 35W Minneapolis Bridge Collapse wiki
- mattjhsn’s I35WBridge wiki
- “When Tragedy Strikes, Ditch the Must-Play Ads”
- Awesome-tastic MNspeak thread
- Liveblog and link roundup at Minnesota Monitor
- Where to turn for “breaking news”? “So, first of all, to clarify, “blog” does not equal “citizen journalism”. I’m thinking of “blog” as the delivery medium and “citizen journalism” as the source. And given that… I think that “citizen journalism” is useful and good for breaking news situations like this one… but I also think that blogs are a lousy medium for delivering that jounalism. In other words, we really need to broker breaking news through the “main stream media”. Now that the news is no longer “breaking”, we’ll see more use of social tools to point people to interesting stories, supplementary information, etc…”
- Hyperbole watch This is not in any way comparable to 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina.
- “New Wi-Fi network proves critical in Minneapolis bridge disaster” (via Peter Fleck)
- At Scenes From a Wasted Life: “the eeriest image from the tragedy so far was the sight of all the automatic headlights coming on as night fell”
- The Onion article from two years ago: “State Of Minnesota Too Polite To Ask For Federal Funding”
Bridge Stuff
- Bridge info resources and other localities reporting on same.
- Slate Explainer: How can you tell if a bridge is about to fall down?
- How the Army Corps of Engineers lowered the water level of the river
- How the failure analysis program created by a University of Minnesota civil engineer will help the NTSB investigation
- Engineering analysis and nonsense debunking: [1] [2]
News
- TC Biz Journal: the impact on 7 Corners businesses
- TC Biz Journal: the city is telling employers to get their workers to take transit
- Governor declares peacetime state of emergency
- This last leg of this year’s Great River Relay, a 200-ish mile relay race from La Crosse to the TC, would have gone right under the bridge. A lot of the feedback they got last year was how the course shouldn’t end on Harriet Island but extended through St Paul to Minneapolis.
- The Bridge on local officials’ response
- The guy in the wheelchair that didn’t roll off the end of the bridge
Photos/Video
- The view from the bridge in the middle of the river by Kim Brown and Kelly Kahle
- Twin Cities Flickr Pool
- Metroblogging Minneapolis Flickr Pool
- Flickr: “minneapolis bridge collapse”
- Video from the water
- Slideshow at the MN Daily
- The view from a plane that was waiting to land at MSP
Relief
- Red Cross public affairs volunteer’s story
- Local authors Kelly Johns and James Pottebaum are donating all royalties from the sale of their Junkyard Junction books for August and September.
- Places to donate to
Bridge Watching
How about a public project that lists bridges of interest; those who have a combined low ratings for safety and are highly trafficed. Armed with this list folks can assign themselves to the bridge and go take as many photos, videos and notes on structural details as possible. If we are lucky, some structural engineers who are game can join with teams of bridge analyzers.
Postings of the photos, videos, notes and commentary on each bridge can be used to influence attention on bridges that appear to be in dire need of repair or replacement.
Great list of links!
I’m working on http://www.35WMemorial.com right now. It’s in a Wiki format. As it sits, I’m trying to bring folks together for discussion about the design of the memorial portion of the new bridge.