|
|
Thursday, August 2, 2007
|
|
BHS grad watched, in horror, the fate of bridge she used
By JODIE TWEED, KATHI NAGORSKI and MATT ERICKSON Staff Writers Delinda (Blanck) Rood, a 1990 Brainerd High School graduate, and her husband, Marc, learned about the Interstate 35W bridge collapse after receiving calls from friends concerned about their safety shortly after it happened Wednesday night.
The Roods, who live in Burnsville and both work on the University of Minnesota campus, normally always use the I-35W University Avenue exit to and from work. But that exit has been closed due to bridge construction for the past month so they drive under and around the section of bridge that collapsed. Delinda passed under the bridge around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday while her husband passed beneath it 45 minutes before it collapsed.
The couple spent all night watching television news reports about the tragedy.
"We haven't left the TV since 6:30 p.m. when we started receiving phone calls," said Delinda Rood. "It's just devastating. We just feel so bad for the people who are there. It's a horrible situation. We've been calling other people I work with to make sure they're OK."
Rood is associate director for development at the athletics department for the University of Minnesota. Her husband works for Learfield Communications on the U of M campus. She said they are both in shock.
"Both of us are watching it on TV just amazed that something like this could even happen," she said. "We feel so terrible for the people who are on the bridge. Yes, it could have been us if it hadn't been for the construction but we still feel so terrible for the people who are there."
Pat O'Brien, owner of TCBX, a longtime freight delivery company based in Brainerd, was grocery shopping Wednesday when his brother called and alerted him to the I-35W bridge collapse.
As he rushed home to check out news footage, he was praying none of the semitrailers would display his trademark TCBX letters.
We havent left the TV since 6:30 p.m. when we started receiving phone calls. Its just devastating. We just feel so bad for the people who are there. Its a horrible situation. Weve been calling other people I work with to make sure theyre OK.
Delinda Rood
BHS graduate employed at University of Minnesota
|
"We probably go over that bridge eight-10 times a day, at least," O'Brien said.
O'Brien said the last of his drivers in the Twin Cities Wednesday passed over that bridge about two hours before the catastrophe.
"I'm just thankful none of my drivers is involved in it," he said.
For years, he said the bridge felt like it was shaking when semitrailers would pass over the river, especially during heavy traffic periods such as rush hour.
"It's just fatigued out from all the traffic," O'Brien said of that bridge. "Maybe it just flexed one too many times."
For months to come, O'Brien said this disaster will cause major traffic problems in the Twin Cities. "This is definitely going to be a major setback for us for delivering freight," O'Brien said.
O'Brien said it was devastating to imagine the chaos for those victims on the bridge at the time of the collapse. "It's scary," he said. "Something like this would be mind-boggling."
Assistant Brainerd Fire Chief Kevin Stunek had expected to spend part of Wednesday night at a Polar Plunge meeting. Instead, he and others involved in the meeting were glued to the television, watching news reports on the collapse of the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River.
"The first thing that comes to mind, I guess I got goose bumps. I was trying to process what happened," Stunek said. "I would love to go down there and be able to help them."
He said his first thoughts were of his two daughters, both of whom live in the Twin Cities. Once he learned they were OK, he said he began thinking about what was going on from the point of view of his job as an emergency first responder with the fire department.
"It's got to be tragic. As a first responder you just have no idea of the magnitude of what's going on, what to expect," Stunek said. "This is a major disaster. That's my role, too, to think about how I would handle it. It would be very difficult."
The collapse also had former Crow Wing County Highway Engineer Duane Blanck wondering what happened. As highway engineer for 32 years and past president of the National Association of County Engineers, Blanck knows his roads and bridges.
He said bridges typically are designed with redundant safety measures so if one part fails, others continue to support in order to prevent such a large collapse.
"Something happened in a domino effect to make it catastrophic," Blanck said. "I have all these questions. I wonder what in the world happened that would cause such a catastrophic failure."
Blanck said he and his family also were worried because his son and daughter-in-law, who are expecting a baby, were at a doctor's appointment Wednesday and were to be traveling on I-35W. Blanck later learned his son and daughter-in-law arrived home safely.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
KATHI NAGORSKI may be reached at kathi.nagorski@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5859.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
|
|
|
Thinking about a New Job?
These employers want you!
|
Loading...
|
|
|
Today's Best Classifieds:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overcast, 61°
