Minneapolis, MN

This fall, Minneapolis (and Hennepin County) will open the first cable-stay bridge in Minnesota for pedestrian traffic over Hiawatha Ave.

This 2,200 foot bridge will carry an estimated 2,500 walkers, joggers and bikers over the busy street each day.

Part of the Mid-town Greenway, officials and planners are hoping the bridge becomes a popular part of this 6 mile bicycle trail that links the Mississippi River and the Uptown Chain of Lakes area.

It should be noted that cable-stayed bridge designs have been used for decades in Europe and are one of many safe and dependable designs for bridge support.

Hiawatha Pedestrian Bridge, Mid-town Greenway

Although MNDoT is not releasing details, it seems that a replacement bridge design has been selected by state officials.

Public comments on the proposal will start this week, with a very aggressive opening of the bridge planned for the end of next year.

With roughly 44 cars retrieved out of the estimated 100 from the river bottom and several tons of debris, there are only 9 identified fatalities from the disaster on August 1st.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has recently benefited from a donation of the Frederick B Scheel collection of photographs.  The collection consists of more than 600 photos, and will be displayed in two parts.

The photos range from the late 1800’s to the 1960’s and some of his own work.  The first part of the exhibit titled “The Search to See” runs through November 4th, with the second part opening on December 1st, running through March 30th of next year. 

Via: Huliq - Frederick B. Scheel Photographs At Minneapolis Institute

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Frederick B Scheel Collection

The National Transportation Safety Board issued an update yesterday on the ongoing investigation of the collapse of the I35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.  Interesting information, I’ve never really read an NTSB bulletin or update before.

Anyway, the update indicates that they have found a potential issue with the gusset plates that tie the beams together.  They are further investigating the materials used in the plates, along with testing the loads and stresses placed upon them.  Interesting, but it’s too early to know if this is the cause, or a contributing factor, or simply not related to the tragedy.

The NTSB also talks about how their using the stunning video we’ve all seen to help investigators onsite look for problems.  Also they’re working with the construction company, trying to understand what equipment was placed on the bridge at the time, it’s weight and so on.

Overall, an interesting update - I’ll be following these NTSB updates mostly out of curiosity on how the board communicates and what their findings are.

Photo credit: photog37

I35W Bridge, Minneapolis Bridge Collapse, NTSB

Gosh, I can’t wait much longer, it’s only 15 days until the start of the Minnesota State Fair.  You can find fair information online here: http://www.mnstatefair.org/

I was going to point out how funny this was on the fair website, but what’s funnier is that they haven’t updated it for today yet.

State Fair, Minnesota State Fair

Last Wednesday’s tragic bridge failure of I35W crossing the Mississippi River in Minneapolis was an example of how the Internet has become the most instantaneous information transmission platform in history.  Within minutes of the collapse, bloggers were posting information, pictures and updates about what was happening.

As with the recent steam pipe explosion in New York, the fastest conduit for news and information is Twitter.  Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that limits posts to 140 characters, but forwards the posts to cell phones, instant message tools, and web pages.  Using Twitter, the news of the collapse traveled around the world in minutes - faster than any “breaking news” story on your favorite mainstream media outlet could ever dream of.

If you’re interested, here is my Twitter link, feel free to follow me.

http://twitter.com/rickmahn

Via: TwinCities.com - Internet becomes lifeline, record

Twitter, Micro Blogging, I35W Bridge, Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

The Christian Science Monitor has a nice story that shows the level of professional volunteers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area.  The many people who showed up on-scene so quickly helped in the immediate crisis, and the follow-on recovery work.

With so many types of businesses located in the Twin Cities, it is no surprise that we have the equipment and supplies to get started on the clean-up phase so quickly and help finish up looking for the last of the victims of this disaster.

The best part of the number of willing, helpful, trained individuals located in our city is that the loss of life was kept to a minimum in this tragedy.  We own them all a big thank you for helping our friends and our families when it matters most.  This is what it means to be a Minnesotan.

Via: Christian Science Monitor - Minneapolis shows why it’s rated No. 1 in volunteerism

Photo credit: Diversey on Flickr

Volunteers, Volunteerism, I35W Bridge, Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

August 10th through the 12th are the dates for 2007’s Irish Fair of Minnesota.  Held on Harriet Island in St. Paul, the festival is a highlight of the St. Paul experience and one of the “most authentic” in the country.

The free admission for this highly family friendly event features numerous pavilions of food, clothing, food, jewelry, food, authentic Irish goods, food…

Guess I always remember the food.

Musical headliners for 2007 include: Gaelic Storm, The Mahones, Young Dubliners, The Fuchsia Band, and The Celtic Tenors.

Irish Fair of Minnesota

That phrase is being uttered by most everyone.  So many people use that bridge, and specifically 35W to commute to many destinations in the city that it literally could have been any of us. 

We’ve so many bridges in the Minneapolis metro area that we tend to forget that they are high in the air, crossing rivers, crossing rail tracks, over all sorts of things.  We’ve a number of rivers, creeks and other natural features that require bridging, and we use them daily.  It could have been any bridge, it could have been anyone, our roadways are that ubiquitous to modern life that they just blend in.

I35W Bridge, Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

Jeremy Hernandez was one of the adults on that school bus that many of us saw on the I35W bridge collapse.  We all wondered if the kids were alright, did they get to safety.  Yes they did, and it is directly because of the actions of this 20 year old community center gym coordinator.  I hope you’ll go and read the article that Scott Seroka has posted at the KARE11 site.

There will be many people who helped, reacted instead of run, and looked out for others before themselves.  Jeremy Hernandez is one of these people. 

Photo credit: KARE11

VIA: KARE11 - Young man credited with saving dozens of kids

I35 Bridge, Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

On August 1st, 2007 the bridge carrying I35W traffic across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis failed, carrying a number of cars and their occupants into the river.  By now you have probably heard or seen about this on the local and national news.

I35 is split into two in the southern portion of the Twin Cities metro area, with an east (35E) leg running through St. Paul and west (35W) leg running through Minneapolis.  I35W is one of the busiest roadways in the Minneapolis area, carrying hundreds of thousands of cars daily.

As I write this Thursday morning, the confirmed dead has been reduced to 4 - though officials to acknowledge there are some 20 or more cars still in the wreckage.  Recovery efforts are underway, unfortunately moving multi-ton sections of bridge from the river takes a lot of time and coordination between rescue workers and the equipment to get it done.

More details to follow.

A smaller town on the eastern side of the Twin Cities metro area, Stillwater sits on the St. Croix river with stunning vistas and a beautifully preserved downtown area beloved for shopping and sightseeing.

Stillwater, Minnesota is the “birthplace of Minnesota”.  While Fort Snelling had been built several years before, Stillwater was the first real civilian settlements in the territory.  In fact Stillwater was started when the area was part of the Wisconsin territory - pretty interesting.

In 1836, the St. Croix River was part of the Wisconsin Territory. The first parts of Minnesota were not ceded in treaty with the Chippewa until 1838, though settlers were moving into the territory as early as 1820. One of those settlers was a man named Joe Brown, who set up a farm and store to supply the upriver fur traders.

Brown also helped in furthering the settlement which he called “Dacotah”, by bringing several family members west from Chicago.

Stillwater’s logging history started in 1842 when Jacob Fisher discovered a stream that, with a small dam, could power a sawmill.  Working with lumbermen John McKusick and Elam Greely, Fisher built the first mill in Stillwater in early 1844.  McKusick also built a boarding house and a company store, and ended up becoming sole owner of the mill.

Along with the mill, the settlers flocked in bringing business, farms, and many of the founders that helped shape Stillwater in its early years.  At this point Stillwater was made the seat of St. Croix County of the Wisconsin Territory - this was about to change soon.

When Wisconsin became a state in 1848, the lands west of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers now had no government.  With Joe Brown leading the way, the “Stillwater Convention” was held on August 26, 1848 in John McKusick’s store.  In this convention the settlers and businesspeople met and drafted a petition to Congress to create a new territory called “Minnesota”.  Henry Sibley was elected to deliver this “citizen’s petition” to the Congress of the United States.

With the actions of Sibley in Washington D.C., the Minnesota Territory was quickly organized and became a U.S. Territory in 1849.  The first territorial District Court was held in Stillwater, the seat of newly formed Washington County,  on August 13, 1849.

In 1851, the territorial prison was located in Stillwater on land that was known as “Battle Hollow” in reference to the Indian battle fought there in July 1839 by the Sioux and Chippewa.  It started operations in 1853.

Finally, on March 4, 1854, Stillwater was incorporated as a city with John McKusick elected as it’s first Mayor.  John McKusick is credited with naming Stillwater, partially because of the still water of Lake St. Croix and also from his hometown in Maine.

Stillwater has remained true to its roots as a small community.  Though the logging operations have moved on, and it is now part of a larger metropolitan area, it keeps its own flavor as a beautiful, historical city.  With many unique shops, historical sites, river scenery, parks, interesting eating establishments it makes for a great weekend getaway for many.

Every year in July the Stillwater Lumberjack Days are held in downtown Stillwater, with several world-championship titles up for grabs.  If you’re looking for a fun, interesting place to spend a day or two - check out Stillwater, Minnesota.

Photograph from Washington County Historical Society

Visit WCHS’ page on Stillwater, MN

Google Map of Stillwater, MN: http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Stillwater,+MN&ie=UTF8&ll=45.067944,-92.81044&spn=0.091172,0.32135&z=12&om=1

Stillwater Minnesota, Minnesota History