Upriver and the Gap: A year later

A year ago today, we were at the airport in Portland, Maine, dealing with a delayed flight; we arrived in Chicago at around midnight and slogged to a hotel that seemed to be located somewhere in Iowa, based on the length of our shuttle ride. It wasn’t until the next morning, when we were using our hotel-supplied toothbrushes and re-packing our carry-on, that we learned of the 35W bridge collapse.

Since then, the boys have been obsessed with bridges: types of bridges, construction methods of bridges, and why bridges fail. For a couple months they were concerned about the safety of the bridges we take every day, particularly the Lake Street and Ford Avenue bridges over the Mississippi. The 35W bridge was familiar to us–it was the way we would go to get to the Target in Northeast, while the Midway store was closed for remodelling–and its collapse was just too close.

At the end of June, we took the tour of the bridge construction. This was before “the gap” was closed, when you could still see between the spans to the Stone Arch Bridge, St. Anthony Falls, and the skyline beyond–quite an impressive view.

The morning news is packed today with reflections on the bridge collapse, live from the scene; and while I’m sure the punditocracy will have lots to say today about bridges and people and the public trust, I think Mayor Rybak said it best soon after the disaster:

Our city, our state and our nation have not invested as we must in roads, bridges and transit–and our lack of investment has serious consequences. I say this as the Mayor of a city recovering from a tragedy that was not an act of God, but a failure of Man.