EckerNet.Com

I just received the following from a staffer for the Minnesota House of Representatives. Lots of good information here, so I felt it worth of broader distribution.

Recovery Operations, Investigation, Immediate Federal Funding andBridge Inspection History

RECOVERY OPERATIONS:
The Minneapolis Fire Department is the lead agency at the site. The State is acting in a support capacity and is responding to the requests from the local authorities on site. The Governor has directed all state agencies to provide necessary assistance to help local, state and federal units of government respond and recover from the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. The emergency executive order will remain in effect until the conclusion of the emergency.

INVESTIGATION:
Governor Pawlenty said Minnesota \”has one of the better or best bridge inspection programs in the country. However, that\’s little consolation when you have a horrific tragedy like this event. The first thing we\’re going to do is make sure that we immediately inspect and check all bridges of this design and that fall into this category on the assessment scale.\”

The full forensic investigation will be conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause of transportation accidents and promoting transportation safety.

The Governor has announced that an independent/outside firm will be hired to conduct an investigation outside of MNDOT or NTSB. A forensic engineering firm, Wiss, Janney and Elstner, will lead the investigation.

The Governor also said the Minnesota Department of Transportation will hire an outside firm to evaluate its inspection practices and conduct emergency inspections of three similar bridges: trunk Highway 23 in St. Cloud, trunk Highway 123 in Sandstone and trunk highway 243 is Osceola/St. Croix.

FEDERAL FUNDING:
Earlier today, the federal government provided an immediate $5 million to Minneapolis to help deal with the logistics of dealing with the I-35W bridge disaster.

BRIDGE INSPECTION HISTORY:

• No structural deficiencies were found during MNDOT\’s bridge inspections in 2005 and 2006.
• The bridge deck was scheduled to be replaced in 2020.
• In 2005, federal government inspected and classified as \”Structurally Deficient,\” which means that it needs to be considered for replacement; it does not mean that it is not a safe bridge. On a national level, between 70,000 to 80,000 bridges fall into this category.
• MNDOT was aware of this classification when it completed its 2005 and 2006 inspections.

HOW CAN PEOPLE HELP
You may be hearing from constituents wondering how they can help. Here is some information you can share in email updates, etc. Thanks!

DONATIONS
Minneapolis Red Cross – donate blood and money

• Web site: www.redcrosstc.org/
• Donate blood: 1-800-448-3543
• Donate money: 612-460-3700

UNITED WAY (2-1-1)
The United Way has an established protocol for handling donations. They work with state and local officials by consolidating offers of emergency assistance and making them known to responders. Contact United Way\’s 211 hotline for donations. Just dial 2-1-1 or 651-291-0211.

FAMILY ASSISTANCE CENTER
Minneapolis Red Cross has established a Family Assistance Center at the Holiday-Inn Metrodome, 1500 Washington Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55454