Inspiration

Responding to the tragic collapse of the I-35W bridge, national, state and local authorities backed the Minnesota Department of Transportation's audacious plan to replace the fallen bridge in record time--to design and build a safer, higher-capacity structure in little over a year. This is less than the amount of time it often takes to just draw up the plans for a project of this scale.

And that is the inspirational story behind our documentary. The three principal members of the building team, MNDoT, designer Figg Engineering and contractor Flatiron-Manson, worked under the microscopic scrutiny of regulatory agencies and a skeptical public, and managed to design and build a magnificent new bridge that opened to traffic a mere 13 and a half months after the collapse.

This project raises the bar for every bridge that follows: not only in the speed of construction, but also in safety, in its use of cutting-edge technologies and in the builders and designers' commitment to community involvement.

First and foremost, the new I-35W Bridge was a way to heal, not just the I-35W traffic corridor, but the regional community stricken by the loss on that day in August. When the beautiful and innovative new bridge opened to traffic a year later on September 18th, there were no fireworks. There were no grandstanding politicians. Instead, hundreds of carloads of Minneapolis/St. Paul denizens gathered spontaneously at 5:00am to be among the first--horns blaring--to cross the restored span.

Infrastructure

We started out making a film about a tragedy and the remarkable warp-speed pace of the response. In the end, we realize that it is also rooted in another story--the sobering fact that the nation's infrastructure is in trouble.

The original I-35W Bridge was labeled "structurally deficient" for 16 years, meaning that it was in need of reconstruction. There are 153,521 bridges labeled as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete in the United States. And it's not just the bridges.

Much of America's infrastructure was built in the last century and is woefully out of date. Leaking dams, inadequate levees, an outdated power grid, bottlenecks at transportation and commerce hubs--the list is huge.

A Different Model

Today, our nation is engaged in an urgent discussion about how we can climb out of the current financial crisis. And with talk of injecting money into the American economy in a constructive way by investing in the country's infrastructure, the experience of the I-35W Bridge in Minnesota is especially relevant.

One of the arguments raised against applying some of the proposed stimulus package to rebuilding America's infrastructure has been that it would take 4 to 5 years for the stimulus benefits to be felt. The story of the reconstruction of I-35W Bridge proves that this does not necessarily have to be the case.

"Twin City Bridge: After the Collapse" tells the remarkable story of a nearly quarter-billion dollar project that was conceived and realized in little over one year. This achievement was made possible by creative approaches to planning and red-tape (without jettisoning environmental concerns) and through equally innovative construction practices. But ultimately it is the inspiration and sacrifice of the thousands of men and women who worked on the project that brought it to completion.