Do bridge! Da bridge!

[lsanderson]

Bridge Construction Draws Crowds in Minneapolis
By MONICA DAVEY

MINNEAPOLIS — On a sunny Saturday, more than 300 people stood in clusters squinting out at the gurgling Mississippi River and the spot where one of the state’s most-traveled bridges fell down one evening last August, killing 13 people and injuring many more.

Near the front of this morning’s crowd, which included tourists with cameras and water bottles, a Boy Scout troop all in navy and a local man celebrating his 75th birthday, stood Peter Sanderson, the project manager for a new $234 million bridge that is rising fast above the waters here.

Trailed by workers in hard hats lugging loudspeakers, Mr. Sanderson used a microphone to answer seemingly endless questions. How strong will the metal be in the new concrete bridge? How peculiar is its design? Has it been used before in this country? What is that puff of smoke over there? What exactly are those construction workers there doing? What are those tubes for?

On and on the quizzing went, as it does most weekends now, part of an unusual series of public meetings the Minnesota Department of Transportation calls the Sidewalk Superintendent tours. More