Revisiting The Bridge.

Today was the day I was scheduled to do my CNN "Everyday Heroes" interview. I had been talking on and off with the segment producer Kathleen Toner since right after August 1st. Again, the agreement was I would tell my experience leading up to and through the 35W bridge collapse and how it related to the actions of Jeremy Hernandez. Jeremy, for those of you who don't know, was the amazing young man who was on that school bus(that fell with the bridge and landed on the roadway behind me) and who sprung immediately into action-getting all the kids off the bus.

A couple weeks back, Kathleen had cautiously broached the subject of exactly where (location-wise) they had hoped to tape my interview. She wanted to shoot me as close as possible to the location it had all happened...the bridge. Because I was to be there honoring Jeremy and his heroics, I immediately agreed. My only conditions were that it been done around my work schedule and I didn't want any onlookers during the interview. She was 100% agreeable and understanding.

Now keep in mind, I declined ALL live and taped interviews and only talked to a handful of journalists about that day. I've never even fully discussed it with family and friends-that, you should know was how this whole blog thing got started(see posts 1 & 2.) So, know that I felt pretty damn strongly about honoring this true young hero.

Today was finally(as of 2 days ago) gonna be the day and I have really made a concerted effort over the last couple weeks-NOT to discuss or even think too long about that day. I just wanted to openly tell the events of that day this one time, as I best remember it. The thought of having to tell this on camera was beginning to feel like having to go to the dentist. I do my best to divert my thoughts and tell myself by this time tomorrow it'll be all done with.

As of last night the shoot was to be done after my workday, around 5:30pm or so. However, Kathleen called and said they were worried about the light, that the sun would be going down and ....could I maybe do it over my lunch break? Knowing that I was going to have a fairly manageable morning at work, I told her I could do it as early as 11:00am. She was flabbergasted and thrilled at the same time, it made me kinda laugh. Kathleen had sent an e-mail marking the intended spot of the taping-it was the River Parkway('River Road')-right were I was that day, along with the bus.

Well, she had scouted the area for the last few days and talked with the powers that be at the bridge and when I called her after work-she said we'd probably shoot from the 10th Avenue Bridge(which parallels the site.) I arrived at around 11:30am and met them at the Red Cross building above the bridge site. Her cameraman and sound guy where in a large black SUV, Kathleen and I road with a MNDOT "media escort" in his small economy car to the 10 Avenue bridge(which has been closed to the public since the collapse.) After clearing all the police check-points we drove to the center of the bridge and set up our shot overlooking the River Road parkway below, 35W and the river.

I had built up nervous energy most of the morning and leading up to meeting. When I got to the side of the bridge and looked through the chain link fence; I saw the entire collapsed span in one clear view...one end to the other. The remnants of the bridge and roadway are now without any vehicles, lying alone along the massive line of destruction. The many pieces of roadway are being deconstructed by an army of construction workers. The area around the bridge now features new sets of wooden stairwells that lead down the riverbanks to the river from the River Road above. Obviously made to handle the constant stream of workers and officials who need easy access to every area of the collapse. On the north/west end of the collapse, down in the Mississippi, they have built a giant sandbar stretching from the river bank to the bridge pieces. The view, still powerful and indescribable, brings back the initial shock of that moment. I grab the 10th Avenue bridge railing tightly with my right hand as I continue to scan the scene below.

After having to wait out planes, helicopters and jackhammers-we filmed the segment. It was strange and uncomfortable in many ways. I was asked to retell certain parts of my experience, 2 or even 3 times because of noise interruptions. Kathleen or even once-the camera guy, fed me general questions to respond to..."Describe how you ended up where you were", "How does it feel to be back here for the first time?" and so on.

I think we wrapped up in under 45 minutes and overall I only had 2-3 emotional moments. I took the opportunity of being in that location to snap a few photos. It really felt good when it was all over and done with, I breathed a big sigh of relief.

The first one looks directly down onto the spot where the bus sat on the broken road(the back side)
and where I had stopped my car. They have jackhammered away the road surface where the bus and semi
had previously sat. There's construction equipment where my car was on River Road.
You can see a set of the new stairs behind that.

The second one looks towards the north end of the bridge.
The new sandbar is on the west side(top) of the north bridge deck.

The final photo is just another view of where I was from the 10th Avenue bridge,
through the chain link fence.

Here are my original photos from that day:

First one-taken from the vantage point of the back of my car, looking east.
You can see the 10th Ave bridge in the background.

Second one looks from where I was on River Road to the north end of the collapse,
across the river. Again you can see the 10th Ave bridge in the background.