Scubaism

Time.com has a story about technical divers involved in the recovery of bodies from the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

In the days after the Interstate 35W bridge collapse claimed the lives of at least five people and injured more than 100, rescue divers are taking every precaution to make sure they don’t join the tally of victims of the greatest disaster in modern Minnesota history. Shattered glass, gasoline from vehicles, and concrete and reinforcement bars from the fallen bridge provide a host of hazards for divers. And with visibility extending no more than six inches at times, the chances of divers’ snagging and skewering themselves on the wreckage is high. On Saturday, rain was added to the mix.

But with the range of vision so poor, the divers have to use what one rescue official referred to as the “Braille method” of search, physically feeling their way through the water. Capt. Bill Chandler of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department supervises the rescue divers, a group of 20 people from several locales, working in groups of three: one person in the water while the other two provide backup. The divers, he said, use sonar to identify potential submerged vehicles. They then carefully make their way to the target and identify what it is.

Capt. John Grant, a member of the Dakota County (Minn.) Sheriff Department’s dive team has participated in missions farther south in the Mississippi River, but he said this one is different. “The visibility is probably worse than it’s ever been,” he said. “It’s very easy to become disoriented.” Grant has had 15 years of rescue and recovery experience, yet he says that finding bodies is no less surreal. “It’s quiet down below the surface, you don’t have the elements of noise from above,” he says. So, he adds, “When you find a dead body below the water, it’s a little nerve-racking but you know you have a job to do and you have to recover that body.” The last official estimate had eight people still missing. But on Saturday authorities were hesistant to address that figure.