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Article: As new bridge takes shape, let's not forget fate of the old.(NEWS)(NICK COLEMAN)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- July 8, 2008
- Author:
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Byline: NICK COLEMAN; STAFF WRITER
The new Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi in Minneapolis has begun to look like a real bridge -- big and boring but built to last. The only people to have "crossed" it so far have been wearing hard hats, but they have all made it across safely.
Hold the trumpets.
In 24 days, we will observe the first anniversary of the collapse of the old bridge, at a toll of 13 dead, more than 100 injured and the reputation of a state shattered. So the excited progress reports on each new chunk of precast concrete hoisted into place seem off-key to me. Building bridges isn't unheard of, you know. We used to do it all ...