Much has been made of the role aerial mappers and surveyors have played in victim rescue and bridge reconstruction after the August 1, 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis. But what about laser scanning? This is the story of how the Minnesota Department of Transportation deployed 3D laser scanning to capture a detailed forensic record of the bridge collapse and help with the ensuing investigation. Bradley Canaday, MN/DOT's administrative land surveyor manager for Metro Surveys, tells how it began. "I first heard the news about 15 minutes after it happened," he says. "My son saw the news on television and called me to find out if I was okay. My next call was to my boss, Terry Zoller, Metro District construction engineer leading the recovery effort, to ask if I should come in. He said he'd let me know--he was already on his way to our main office at the Water's Edge."
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