After valiant efforts by American opinion-makers to blame the bridge collapse on Bush, the war in Iraq and global warming, the truth may defy such glib pigeonholing:
Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed interstate bridge over the Mississippi River also faced a less obvious enemy: Birds, specifically pigeons.
Inspectors began documenting the buildup of pigeon dung on the span near downtown Minneapolis two decades ago.
Experts say the corrosive guano deposited all over the Interstate 35W span's framework helped the steel beams rust faster.
We need to bring the troops back from Iraq to shoot all the birds. |