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I love to prop my bike against a railing on this iron bridge and stare at the rail yard below. The bridge is new, replacing another iron bridge that was starting to fail.
Failing bridges are a serious concern all over the United States. The concern becomes visceral in Minneapolis with memories of the rush hour collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge across the Mississippi in 2007. It’s hard to forget a school bus, filled with 10-year-olds, next to a burning food truck, perched precariously over the Mississippi.
The bridge failed because of poor design, but there were many contributing factors, including large concentrations of pigeon waste. Pigeon dung is highly corrosive and a health hazard for maintenance crew.
Yesterday, when I propped my bike on the iron bridge over the rail yard, I heard urgent bird calls overhead. I traced the sounds back to the green box pictured at the top of this post.
