When the news broke last Thursday about that bridge that collapsed in Florida, it reminded me of the I-35W bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis in 2007. But did you know there's a Minnesota connection to the Florida collapse?

I'll admit, I was somewhat addicted to the coverage of that pedestrian bridge that collapsed down in Florida last week. I don't know if it was because it brought back those awful memories of the Minneapolis collapse or what, but I ended up reading a ton of stories about it over the weekend.

I'm still stunned that, given all our advances in technology today, engineering failures like this still happen, with fatal results. And, the fact that this bridge had only recently been built ("installed," is how they referred to it, because it was constructed off-site and moved into place) makes how it collapsed even more tragic.

But check out this Minnesota connection: According to this TwinCities.com story, the company that designed the Florida bridge is an engineering company called the FIGG Bridge Group. And, the FIGG Bridge Group is the same company that was hired to build the current I-35W bridge in Minneapolis-- which is the new bridge that replaced the span that collapsed back in 2007!

How's that for freaky?!?

Listen to Curt St. John from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5 

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