We’re all fine…

…and we were thankfully not nearby, but the [35W Mississippi River bridge collapse](http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1338294.html) is just stunning and horrible. It’s just unbelievable. There were no known problems with the bridge. No interesting or extreme weather. Just a second of shaking and then it fell; 64 feet down to the river.

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Here’s a [quick map of where it happened](http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?client=safari&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&t=k&om=1&msa=0&ll=44.975546,-93.233843&spn=0.035277,0.071411&z=14&msid=116932682035456861521.000436ad14ad2d7984cc4) compared to how I get to work.

**UPDATE:** A good friend came by this afternoon. Late in the afternoon she was planning to head home over West River Road. Guess where she might have been at 6:00? It’s in green on the map I linked to above. Yep. Directly under the collapse. She stayed for dinner. (The aroma of fresh rosemary from our garden drew her to the table. Yeah, it was the rosemary… If “rosemary” is the new word for divine intervention!)

**UPDATE (next morning):** I’ve always liked [James Lileks](http://www.lileks.com). [Now I like him even better](http://www.buzz.mn/?q=node/2171).

**UPDATE:** From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-35W_Bridge): “The 35W bridge shares the same mile of the Mississippi as two of Minneapolis’ other spectacular catastrophes: the explosion of the Washburn “A” Mill in 1878 and the collapse of the tunnel under Hennepin Island in 1869, which nearly destroyed St. Anthony Falls.”

**UPDATE:** Yes, there’s (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ab_1186054443&p=1).

**UPDATE:** I’m having a previously arranged “work at home” day today. I’m sitting outside on the patio on a warm, sunny, beautiful day. But it’s kinda spooky. I live about 7 miles from the collapse, but nevertheless I can hear the city abuzz. It seems like there’s a lot more small aircraft overhead (I live just up the bluff from a regional airport). I hear emergency vehicle sirens on I-94 over and over and over. It’s unsettling. Of course, I’m thankful that I’m only unsettled.

**UPDATE:** I heard from a friend that a friend of his was expected to be in that area at that time, and that he and his daughter are still missing. Prayers coveted. Sounds like they’re OK.

**UPDATE:** Here’s the [current traffic camera shot of the bridge](http://www.dot.state.mn.us/tmc/trafficinfo/metrocams/cameras/628.html) (with reference images of what it used to look like). With everything having fallen, a lot of the photos we’re seeing now don’t really show how high the bridge was like I think this one does.

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