Bridge collapse in Minneapolis

[Izzo]

...the 35W bridge over the Mississippi just collapsed.....you gotta see the pics to realize how big this bridge is cars in the water and on fire

[Noevo]

man, been on that bridge several times

[Spammy]

WOW

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bridge ... index.html

[Noevo]

my step brother and his family live down 35w south of the city...about half an hour or so...can never remember the name of the damn city...have to give my mom a call.

[Izzo]

my step brother and his family live down 35w south of the city...about half an hour or so...can never remember the name of the damn city...have to give my mom a call.

I'm about 10 miles from there... during rush hour too... had to have been loaded with cars

[MissTynker2]

That is pure terror!

[Indy]

Any word on the suspected cause yet?

[Noevo]

Any word on the suspected cause yet?

gravity.



i'm sorry, I feel bad if it's any consolation? too soon?

[Izzo]

Any word on the suspected cause yet?

not a thing ...they're still trying to determine how many are in the water

[waferdog]

My sister lives in the apartments just off Washington Ave right by that bridge. My dad picked her up from her apartment 20 minutes prior to the collapse (he drove southbound over the bridge to get her and northbound heading back to his place). Thankfully, they are safe.

[Noevo]

good to hear waferdog

[Sava700]

That is pure terror!

yep.. cause?


Lets ask Burke... it might be Terrorists!!!!

[YARDofSTUF]

We need an SG reporter out in the field STAT

[RoundEye]

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it was caused by too many cars on the east side, during repair. You have to go way back in time to understand my theory.

This country started on the east coast. While growing in population, people moved from east to west. They got to the Mississippi river and stopped. At that point in time there were no bridges to cross the river. Large cities formed on the east bank of the river, and there really was not much of a way to cross the river other then ferry’s until the 1930’s. Directly across the river from east to west cities are much smaller in size.

Snap forward until today’s time. People commute from west to east in the morning to get to work in the city, and from east to west to get home to more rural areas. They backed up too many cars during rush hour traffic on an already weakened bridge, and *poof* the east side collapsed and pulled the rest of the bridge down with it.

But watch and see if somebody doesn’t try and claim it was a terrorist attack.

[Izzo]

We need an SG reporter out in the field STAT

they're not letting anyone within a 1/4 from there

[Sava700]

We need an SG reporter out in the field STAT

GO GO GO!!

[Sava700]

(CNN) -- At least three people were killed when an interstate bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed Wednesday evening, plunging cars and chunks of concrete into the Mississippi River below.
There were "lots" of injuries, said the state Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department.

The accident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET). There were 50 to 100 cars on the bridge at the time, according to early estimates.

Lt. Amelia Huffman of the Minneapolis Police Department told CNN affiliate KARE it was "not clear at this point what caused the collapse" of the Interstate 35W bridge near University Avenue.

"We have personnel there in the rescue effort," she said. "I have never seen anything remotely like this before."

Shortly after the collapse, a tractor trailer was burning on the bridge.

Rescue workers are using boats to help remove people from the water, bringing them up on the river bank.

Aerial footage showed the middle of the bridge caved in, lying in the Mississippi River, with cars both on top and submerged in the water.

Witnesses told CNN a school bus filled with children was on the bridge when it collapsed, but they also said the bus did not drop into the water and it appeared that the children had all been evacuated.

The main part of the collapsed span is not submerged, but the span clearly separated from the land-based sections of the highway on both the north and south ends of the bridge.
Mark Lacroix, who lives on the 20th floor of an apartment building near the bridge, told CNN he saw the last seconds of the collapse.

"I heard this massive rumbling and shaking basically and looked out my window," Lacroix said. "It just fell right into the river."
He said there had been construction work on the bridge in recent weeks.
Nighttime construction took place on the bridge Tuesday night and was to take place again Wednesday night, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation,
The highway would have been restricted to a single lane in both directions from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. both nights.

[Kip Patterson]

Not a terrorist attack - Bush had it pulled so we wouldn't notice that he got Karl Rove off the hook.

Geesh. Get it right, guys.

[CableDude]

We need an SG reporter out in the field STAT

[Sava700]

yep she works for me too

[MissTynker2]

yep.. cause?


Lets ask Burke... it might be Terrorists!!!!

My comment was not meant in that form

[Shinobi]

God bless the victims and their families ..

Imaging driving over that bridge... then plunging down below.. OMG!
Horrific.

[9mmprincess]

One of my worst fears is to be driving over a bridge and have it collapse, and be trapped in my car underwater. It's wierd, my boyfriend just told me today when he came home from work (before we saw the news about the collapse) that he'd bought me a flashlight from the Snap-On truck at his work, that also has a glassbreaker on the end of it. He knows it's a fear of mine, being stuck in a car underwater and unable to get out. I feel bad for everyone on that bridge - I can't imagine how scary that must have been.

[Sava700]

My comment was not meant in that form

I know..just making a statement with it. I saw the video of it they got on CNN....pretty wild and scary!

[westy]

At this point they haven't stated the cause, but they said it wasn't related to the routine maintenance that was being done on the bridge. It was inspected in 2006 and was found sound.

I pray for all the families that lost anyone in this accident, and for those who were injured and the ones that remain unaccounted for, and their families.

I live in the south suburbs and have friends and family who routinely use the bridge (as I have) and am praying everyone I haven't heard from is o.k.

I think it's a blessing that so few were injured and that bus load of kids came through with minor injuries. It could have been so much worse at 6:00 up here.

Not trying to take anything away from the folks who were injured or lost someone in the accident.

[Spammy]

Not a terrorist attack - Bush had it pulled so we wouldn't notice that he got Karl Rove off the hook.

Geesh. Get it right, guys.

[Illini25]

I think it's a blessing that so few were injured and that bus load of kids came through with minor injuries. It could have been so much worse at 6:00 up here.

Not trying to take anything away from the folks who were injured or lost someone in the accident.

Yeah, there are some amazing survival stories coming from this tragic ordeal.

[Kip Patterson]

We just heard from our family members - all are OK, thank heavens.

Pray for miracles, folks, it looks like we may lose 20 or 30 souls.

The good news is that they will almost certainly figure this one out, given some time, and it will belatedly save other lives.

Steel's a wonderful material, but when you use any material in tension you run risks that aren't there when it is in compression. That's why Suliman's bridge stood five centuries in mostar, and the Eiffel tower stands today, cast iron and all. Whatever started this collapse, it's going to be lack of redundancy that finished it.

Kip

[Spammy]

So sad for sure.

[RoundEye]

....Whatever started this collapse, it's going to be lack of redundancy that finished it.....

That’s what I’m thinking, a single point failure that caused a cascading domino effect.

[Dan]

check this out

http://www.cbs13.com/video/?id=23459@kovr.dayport.com

[RoundEye]

check this out

http://www.cbs13.com/video/?id=23459@kovr.dayport.com

I was wondering if you even went to work today, knowing your fear of bridges.

Looking at that video, it looks like the west side went first, contrary to what I thought before. It’s hard to tell.

Technically the bridge runs from west to the east of the Mississippi river, however it points north and south. Look at the woman’s shadow running around. We know it was late in the afternoon, which cast a long shadow from the west. That must mean she was on the west/south side of the bridge.

If I’m wrong, somebody needs to call me on this.

[Spammy]

Good Grief look at Bush's press confrence. SPIT IT OUT YOU MUMBLING FRICKING IDIOT

[Dan]

I was wondering if you even went to work today, knowing your fear of bridges.

Looking at that video, it looks like the west side went first, contrary to what I thought before. It’s hard to tell.

Technically the bridge runs from west to the east of the Mississippi river, however it points north and south. Look at the woman’s shadow running around. We know it was late in the afternoon, which cast a long shadow from the west. That must mean she was on the west/south side of the bridge.

If I’m wrong, somebody needs to call me on this.

LOL I had a slow day today,I did cross the sac river on hwy 5,and tommorrow I have to cross this bridge The Antioch Bridge

http://bata.mtc.ca.gov/bridges/antioch.htm





, I am ok with all the bridges in nor cal except this one,the Richmond/San Rafeal bridge,I just plain cannot cross. if I was to have to cross it,the only way would be for someone else to drive and I would close my eyes til I got across.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond-San_Rafael_Bridge

[RoundEye]

Dan, the Huey P. Long bridge would flip you out. It was built in the 30’s, extremely narrow, and if you get stuck in traffic as a train passes it sways around. They have signs posted “truck passing truck prohibited”. From what I hear, it’s the longest rail and car bridge in the world.

I have to cross it all the time, it’s only about five miles from my house.

Random pics from the net,