The StarTribune is reporting that the new 35W Bridge is on track to open in September. The expected date is currently September 15th, which would also result in the maximum financial incentive of $20 million.

Going back to the old bridge for a moment, I found this interesting video of it being built in 1967, courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Deal reached for bridge collapse victims

I’m really not sure how to feel about this. Can I borrow your moral compass?

Us Minnesotans don’t mess around with bridge safety these days. The Lowry Avenue Bridge was closed in 2004 after an inspection found a section had shifted 11 inches off center, and now it’s doomed and slotted for replacement. And although everyone’s denying it has anything to do with the 35W bridge collapse, there’s no questioning the intensified scrutiny on the structural soundness of Minnesota bridges.

From the Star Tribune:

The bridge, which connects north and northeast Minneapolis, was rebuilt in 1958, using its original 1905 piers and making them 20 feet taller. The county’s current goal is to begin construction of a replacement bridge in October 2009 and finish in late 2011.

Eluko79 posted this video on YouTube, “One last drive over the Lowry Bridge”

Kind of makes you feel like the bridge is a roller coaster. Again, not something that us Minnesotans like to equate with our bridges these days.

While this surreal picture doesn’t show it, it’s finally starting to feel like spring in Minnesota. What that really means is not shorts and sandals, but orange cones and detours. Yes, it’s the start of the “second season” – road construction.

On a trip from Bloomington to Uptown yesterday, I passed through at least 6 construction zones. The one that really peaked my curiosity was the American Boulevard bridge over I-35W. With this bridge just being completed a couple years ago, I really had to find out what was going on. According to the City of Bloomington website, the abutment is sinking but “structurally the bridge is sound.” Next time I think I’ll just continue in ignorance.

If you’re in Minneapolis, you will have to contend with road construction and some street sweeping parking restrictions that start today. Find out the schedule for your street from this tool on the city website. You might also receive an automated call (no guarantees, though!) if you have a listed phone number.

Despite the start of transportation woes, it will be nice to finally go outside without a coat. Today’s forecast calls for a high of 70 degrees. Personally, I’m hoping it starts staying in that range.

I hate to admit this, but I packed away my bike for the winter. Maybe next year I’ll be tough enough to pedal through the pain. I’m going to start preparing by participating in my first Critical Mass ride.

Date: Friday March 28, 2008
Time: 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Meet at Loring Park in Minneapolis at 5 p.m. to ride at about 5:30.

In case you are pondering, yes, there were some issues during previous rides–all the more reason to participate, and remind the public that cyclist are traffic.

This is the perfect weekend to make your presence known. There is also a ride for Ghost Bike Minneapolis:

Ghost Bike Minneapolis will host a short memorial ride on March 30th, 2008 in remembrance of Ed Gorecki, a cyclist killed by a hit-and-run driver on December 11th, 2007. A white bicycle will be placed in Northeast Minneapolis at the intersection of Quincy and Broadway as a memorial and a reminder to ride and drive safely.

The Ghost Bike Project is a nationwide effort to increase awareness of the dangers bicyclists face, and to encourage cyclists and drivers to share the road. More information can be found at http://www.ghostbikempls.org/ (please be patient with the website as we
are having technical difficulties).

The memorial ride will begin at 1:30 on March 30th, at the east end of the Stone Arch Bridge. Attendees are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes early. There will be a short ride to the intersection of Quincy and Broadway, followed by the installation of a ghost bike and a moment of silence. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

CONTACT

ghostbikempls@gmail.com

Although the NTSB previously cited too-thin gusset plates and construction project weights as factors in the collapse, yesterday’s update included drawings and tables that pinpointed the locations of those heavy loads on the structure. According to news reports this afternoon:

The Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi in Minneapolis collapsed last August after construction workers had put 99 tons of sand on the roadway directly over two of the bridge’s weakest points, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report.

and

More than 191 tons of construction material had been piled over the weakest areas of an interstate bridge that collapsed last August, according to federal investigators.

In a followup to a preliminary report released in January, the National Transportation Safety Board report that the piles of rock and sand were placed over steel plates that were thinner than they should have been.

Calculations by the agency have determined that the bridge in Minneapolis was carrying a 630-ton load at the time it fell into the Mississippi River. About half of that load was sitting on the center span.

The NTSB has uploaded investigative reports, photos and information submitted by the parties involved in the collapse here. Go to that link and check out all the data and reports.

I’m really fascinated by the photos in this particular report (pdf) especially with all the plates labeled and aerial (satellite?) photos of the bridge just hours before the accident.

Btw, where did those photos come from? Am I being photographed right now?

Today The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists and Minnesota Public Radio are hosting a UBS Forum examing the present state of journalism, the effect of new media on mainstream media (MSM), and ethical issues and quandries created by evolving communication, expectation and collaboration.

MPR called Erica and Greg, your Metroblogging Minneapolis Co-Captains, and asked if we would be the official live bloggers covering the event tonight. Of course, because we’re bloggers and all, we asked if they would pay us under the table. Not really, but we bet you $100 somebody believes that’s how bloggers operate…not to say that’s not ever true.

Inarguably, new and social media wouldn’t exist without traditional journalism. Yet with that said, MSM is hitting some growing pains trying for that sweet spot between relevancy, timeliness, responsibility and oh yeah, monetization. After all, just because the average netizen expects the news for free with no ads, somebody has to keep the lights on and journalists fed.

The MNSPJ has more details on the event. We hear all seats may have been reserved, but you can still give it a shot if you’d like to attend.

UPDATE: Event is sold out. We’re told MPR wouldn’t spring for live video streaming (?), but there will be an audio stream linked off the MPR front page with a form for web attendees to submit questions.

Otherwise, follow along here starting at 7:00 tonight.

List of expected attendees (to be edited once the event kicks-off):

• Bob Collins, MPR’s News Cut
• Dan Gillmor, director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University
• Chuck Olsen, Citizen Journalist, Videoblogger, Founder of The Uptake
• Michael Caputo, Analyst, Public Insight Journalism, Minnesota Public Radio
• Jane Kirtley, Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota
• Steve Perry, Editorial Director, Minnesota Monitor
• Terry Sauer, Managing Editor, StarTribune.com
• Dave Pyle, Minnesota Bureau Chief Associated Press
• Wendy Wyatt, Journalism, Media, Ethics Professor, University of St. Thomas
• Scott Libin, News Director, WCCO-TV

LIVEBLOGGING NOTES:
G: It’s 6:42 p.m., and Erica and I are set-up in the auditorium stage-left. They have tasty cookies in the lobby and the auditorium is already hot. I’m sure it will only heat up once when the ethics throwdown begins.

Read on…
Read more

From the Metroblogging Flickr Pool:

Originally uploaded by manyhighways.

I’d probably be immune to it by now, but it seems like it’d be a little hard to traverse the Washington Ave Bridge every day and look down on that.

[35W Bridge Disaster Pool] [Minneapolis 35W Bridge Collapse Pool] [Cedar-Riverside Neighborhood Pool]

Nine organizations received a total of $200,000. (pdf) The Minneapolis Foundation administers the Digital Inclusion Fund.

As a reminder:

The purpose of the fund is to bridge the digital divide in Minneapolis by providing financial resources to organizations that work with low-income people, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants and refugees, displaced workers, seniors and other new users of technology.

Awardees are listed below.

(via Peter Fleck, who is on the Digital Inclusion Fund Advisory Board and helped decide who to award the grants to)
Read more

I’ve been pining all week for a bike ride across the stone arch bridge in order to fetch something from our fair city’s Mill City Farmer’s Market, when I learned that it’s moved indoors, once a month, at Let’s Cook in Northeast.

Let’s Cook is hosting a Winter Food Market the 3rd Saturday of every month from 10am - 2pm. Let’s Cook is located in NE Minneapolis at: 330 Hennepin Ave, (612) 623-9700

Winter Market Dates:
January 19
February 16
March 15
April 19

Let’s Cook will have their kitchen packed with local vendors selling unique seasonal goods including jams and preserves, pasture-raised meats, handmade confections, delicious baked goods and artisan cheeses.
Vendors vary each month and include:

Minnesota Valley Organics*
Edna’s Caramels*
River Chocolate Company*
Braucher’s Sunshine Harvest Farm*
Lucille’s Kitchen*
Azariah Acres Farm*
Mystic Prairie Eco-Farms*
Valli dell’Etna Olio d’Oliva*
Prairie Hollow Farms*
Bread, Coffee and Cake*
Shepherd’s Way*
St. Honore Gluten-Free Bakery*
Northern Lakes Wild Rice
Miel y Leche
Tasteful Thymes
Love Handles Hand-painted Chocolates
Wildtree
and more!

* - 2007 MCFM Vendor

Hey, it’s one way to beat the winter blues, right?