Sunday, August 1, 2010

How soon we forget

Three years ago the 35W bridge crossing the Mississippi in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13. Not that I think all anniversaries of tragedies have to be memorialized, but I do think it is weird that the Minneapolis StarTribune does not feature a mention of the collapse on the front page of their website (as of Sunday morning August 1). At least CNN.com has a front page feature. The troubles that led to the collapse have largely been ignored in the years since, including our need to maintain our infrastructure to reasonable levels. It doesn't seem that we have done as much as we ought to in order to ensure that the 35W collapse is an isolated incident, and part of what we should do is occasionally look back at our progress. The third anniversary of the event seems like a good time to do that.

UPDATE: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is asking for a moment of silence at 6:05 pm to observe the three year anniversary of the collapse. The StarTribune posted a story on this request in the late afternoon.

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