Scenario One:
I would steal several gasoline tank trucks and one mini-van in a single operation and drive them to one of the numerous bridges crossing the Mississippi River.
Older bridges will likely have a flat road surface, that is, the road is level across most of the length of the span. Such a bridge would not be a good target for this scenario as will be apparent shortly.
In the case of the newer bridges, the road surface will arc across the river with the result that both approaches slope upward until meeting at the crest. At the top of the span, the trucks would be parked to block the lanes and the valves would be opened to let the gasoline flow down one side of the span. The mini-van would wait on the "dry" side of the bridge -- no suicide martyrs required for this scenario. The gasoline would be ignited by the most fearless of the crew who would all then depart in the mini-van for a go elsewhere.
There would likely not be any explosions but the heat of the fire would damage the structure of the bridge sufficiently to force closure of the span. Interstate trucking would be disrupted for a good while.
If the terror crew was large enough to target multiple spans at the same time, the economic disruption would be significant. And the cost of repairs would be possibly staggering.
In the case of the older spans, some carry both highway and rail traffic so if an attack were made against such a span, interstate transport would be even more effectively disrupted. However, as alluded to earlier, older spans tend to be flat and thus might be harder to effectively torch.
A starting list of targets:
US 18, Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin
US 61 / US 151, Dubugue, Iowa
US 20, Dubugue, Iowa
US 52, Savanna, Illinois
19th Avenue, Clinton, Iowa
US 30, Clinton, Iowa
Chicago & Northwestern RR Bridge, Clinton, Iowa
I 80, Davenport, Iowa
I 74 / US 6, Davenport, Iowa
2nd Street & RR Bridge, Davenport, Iowa
US 67, Davenport, Iowa
Railroad Bridge, Davenport, Iowa
I 280, Davenport, Iowa
Macarthur Bridge, Burlington, Iowa
Burlington Northern RR Bridge,
US 136, Keokuk, Iowa
Railroad Bridge, Quincy, Illinois
Quincy Memorial Bridge, Quincy, Illinois
Maine Street Bridge, Quincy, Illinois
Norfolk Southern RR Bridge, Hannibal, Missouri
I 72, Hannibal, Missouri
Madison St Bridge, Louisiana, Missouri
Gateway Western RR Bridge, Louisiana, Missouri
Clark Bridge, Alton, Illinois
I 270, St. Louis, Missouri
Terminal RR Association of St. Louis Bridge, St. Louis, Missouri
McKinley Bridge, St. Louis, Missouri
Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Bridge, St. Louis, Missouri
Eads Bridge, St. Louis, Missouri
I 55 / I 64, St. Louis, Missouri
I 255, St. Louis, Missouri
Mo 34 / MO 146, Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Union Pacific RR Bridge, Thebes, Illinois
I 57, Cairo, Illinois
US 60, Cairo, Illinois
I 155, Dyersburg, Tennessee
I 40, Memphis, Tennessee
I 55 / US 61 / US 64, Memphis, Tennessee
US 49, West Helena, Louisiana
US 82, Greenville, Mississippi
I 20 / US 80, Vicksburg, Mississippi
US 64 / US 85, Natchez, Mississippi
LA 70, Louisiana
Veterans Memorial Bridge, Gramercy, Louisiana
I 310, Destrahan, Louisiana
Huey P. Long Bridge, Metairie, Louisiana
US 90 Twin Spans, New Orleans, Louisiana
If I were one of the good guys ...
... what would I do to prevent and/or mitigate such a scenario? Your comments should address this, if you don't mind.
at The Chicago Tribune (reg. req'd), Feb 28
