Lets pray for all involved.
They are reporting on it on FOX News right now.
Cars Plunge As Bridge Collapses In Minneapolis
(AP) MINNEAPOLIS A freeway bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed Wednesday, sending many cars into the water. Tons of concrete have collapsed and people are injured. Survivors are being carried up the riverbank.

"My truck got completely torn in half," said a witness who was on the bridge when it collapsed. "The bridge started shaking and it went down fast."

The Interstate 35W Mississippi River bridge near University Avenue has collapsed into the river.

Both the northbound and southbound lanes of 35W are lying in the Mississippi River.

There are multiple cars in the river and a couple cars on fire. According to one witness, there was a school bus full of children on the bridge.

Cars are still on the bridge.

Tons of concrete have collapsed and people are injured. Survivors are being carried up the riverbank.

Some people are stranded on parts of the bridge that aren't completely in the water.

A tractor-trailer is on fire at the collapse scene.

Some cars are still precariously perched on the bridge. Sections of the bridge are mangled, some are pointing up in the air and some are in the river.

"It is just horrific," said witness Marilyn Franzen, who saw the bridge collapse. Franzen said she saw a school bus that managed to stop before the going over the edge of the bridge that she said was carrying 20-30 children.

According to witnesses, cars are crushed and mangled under the bridge where it collapsed onto the shore of the river. Street signs also crushed cars.

The road has been under construction since the beginning of the summer.

On all the news channels up here.. Its brutal. Reminds me of the bridge collapse in Oakland during the wolrd series! :(

Channel 5 has some very good aerial views from their helicopter..
www.kstp.com

Its an absolute mess and horrifying sight here right now. They are saying there were over 50 cars on this bridge when it collapsed. I have been on this bridge thousands of times and have wondered what would happen in something like this. Its actually pretty high up too, 65 feet to the water.

Been watching the live news coverage for the last 45 minutes and its very sureal. I had similar feelings like Sept. 11th. I finally had to turn the TV off cause it was just to insane to watch.

Things are really not looking good right now.:(

I've been watching the live coverage on KARE's website. Man that whole thing collapsed.

one of the reporters at KSTP dug up a MNDoT inspection report from last year saying that it had fatigue issues in some critical areas..

one of the reporters at KSTP dug up a MNDoT inspection report from last year saying that it had fatigue issues in some critical areas..
Wow, the dust hasn't even settled yet, and they're already looking for someone to crucify. :(

Fox is reporting 1 (confirmed) death and at least 20 (confirmed) injuries. By the images I'm seeing, I'll bet both those numbers will go up. VERY SAD INDEED!!!

Been watching it myself. Another sad day for Americans.

Wow, the dust hasn't even settled yet, and they're already looking for someone to crucify. :(
i think they were trying to figure out what kind of work they were doing on the bridge at the time, and they just happened to find that.

The report was from 2001 and stated that the stress cracks did NOT present any danger of the bridge collapsing in the future..

have you guys heard some of the stories for people that survived this?
one guy had his truck ripped in half, then he proceeded to help rescue a bus full of kids.
and another guy who felt the car shake, looked in the mirror and saw the cars behind him fall out of view, and he just gassed it and got off right before the section he was on fell down.. i think that guy might need new shorts.
lots of people running in and getting people out of there before the rescue crews showed up.

I was hearing the same thing Derrick. They were even saying they have reports of people whose cars fell but stayed on the bridge section, Getting out of there cars and jumping into the water to rescue others that went in. The good (if there can be) will be all the acts of selfless heroism that will come out of this tragedy.

One woman said that the traffic was so bad they turn off on 4th street. Thats the small bridge that runs right next to it. They looked over and it was going down. Had they not turned off, they would have been on it too.

Latest report now has Three confirmed dead.. Six critical and 22 NLT injured.

Let us all say our prayers for everyone involved

Remember in Florida (I think) when a barge nudged a support on a train bridge & it collapsed? I wonder if it was something like that? Bad, Bad deal.

LK

Remember in Florida (I think) when a barge nudged a support on a train bridge & it collapsed? I wonder if it was something like that? Bad, Bad deal.

LK

This bridge did not have any footings in the water, so this has been ruled out.

The video of this is just terrible. It's unbelievable.

For those not familiar with the Twin cities..
35W is is the western split of Interstate 35 that runs right in the heart of Minneapolis.. 35E runs through St.Paul.

35W is the main north/south thoroughfare through Minneapolis..On the Eastern edge of the downtown area. Over 100,000 cars use this bridge daily.

People in the area at the time of collapse just dropped everything and ran to the areas to help.... including rescuing some people from the water... Im damn proud to be from this area where helping out just comes naturally!

These are some pictures that were posted on a local website... Twolane racing as taken by John ( 5-door).

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/532/medium/Picture015.jpg

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/532/medium/Picture013.jpg

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/532/medium/Picture012.jpg

My prayers go out to the families involved in this.

Here are some more from Maliburacing that John(5 door) also posted on that forum too.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/Picture016.jpg

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/Picture008.jpg

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/Picture011.jpg

They are even talking about this on the BBC. Its international now. Its hard to believe this happened not far from me. I am still beside myself, there have been times I have thought things like "what if this bridge collapses with me on it at this second" right as I drive over it. Now, its actually happened for real, during the worst time of day and I just cant believe it. Im just totally shocked this could have ever happened so close to home.:(

Unfortunately I really think were going to be seeing alot more of this happen. Most of the bridges in the U.S. are reaching the end of there time. Americas infastructure is aging and failing. Correct me if im wrong but arent most bridges, roads, tunnels, etc designed to be in use for a certain period of time?

Remember in Florida (I think) when a barge nudged a support on a train bridge & it collapsed? I wonder if it was something like that? Bad, Bad deal.

LK

Horrible collapse - I wonder if the train had anything to do with it? I saw on CNN that bus in the picture had kids on it, although it's summer - heard they were all OK. Prayers go out to everyone affected by this.

This is very tragic and my prayers go out to all of the families and people affected. They say all of the kids on the bus made it out OK. They definitely had a guardian angel watching over them.

As an Engineer I wonder who is the person who designed the structure. I would hope that this person will be involved in the forensic investigation so that they truly understand and learn what failed and why so that this information can be used to review other structures. The news just said the bridge got a score of 50 out of 100 a few years back when it was inspected. It makes you wonder if it got a score that low why it wasn't reviewed and already being repaired or replaced.

I also wonder the thoughts going through the Engineers mind. That would rock you to your core.
Frank

there have been several serious bridge collapses
a) 1967-Silver Bridge over Ohio river collapses, starting modern bridge inspection programs
b) Sunshine skyway, Florida, Barge hits support pier, span collapses into Tampa Bay
c) Mianus River, Connecticut, rust and a suspect cantilever pin system fail, sending one side of i-95 bridge into the drink
d) Calif earthquakes, 1971 Sylmar and 1989 Loma Prieta both caused collapses of bridge infrastructures

Why did crews stop searching/working during the night????

Why did crews stop searching/working during the night????

The fire chief said it was too dangerous to have crews poking around on very likely unstable piles of rubble with loose chunks of concrete and rebar poking out in every direction, especially dangerous in the underwater areas. It's the same reasoning used to not allow firefighters to enter a burning building which is about to collapse.

The fire chief said it was too dangerous to have crews poking around on very likely unstable piles of rubble with loose chunks of concrete and rebar poking out in every direction, especially dangerous in the underwater areas. It's the same reasoning used to not allow firefighters to enter a burning building which is about to collapse.

Good point. No reason to put more people in danger.

I was hearing the same thing Derrick. They were even saying they have reports of people whose cars fell but stayed on the bridge section, Getting out of there cars and jumping into the water to rescue others that went in. The good (if there can be) will be all the acts of selfless heroism that will come out of this tragedy.

that's because of where it happened. People from that area of the country tend to be more selfless. They had trouble with flu vaccine a few years back when there was a shortage. People heard there was a shortage nationallly and didn't get one. Minnesota actaully had a surplus because of that.

Remember in Florida (I think) when a barge nudged a support on a train bridge & it collapsed? I wonder if it was something like that? Bad, Bad deal.

LK

that was in Mobile. A barge went up the wrong channel. I';ve seen the area - very easy to do at night.

Good point. No reason to put more people in danger.

I'm sure they also felt they had already been able to rescue those who were able to be rescued (sorry, that sounds harsh but it's the reality of the situation).

I sure will be interested in learning why the bridge collapsed. Nebraska's bridges have never been given a strong bill of health but the state has begun to attack the problem but it takes time. Nebraska mercilessly uses salt on the roads in the winter so I have to believe that can be a huge contributing factor in bridge aging and failure.

No structure can be painted and maintained so thoroughly that rust can't get in and as we know from our cars, once it's there, there is no going back. Salt also damages concrete, at least newer concrete. Here they won't salt concrete newer than a year old, but it's still carried onto those surfaces by the traffic itself from the sections that are salted. Still, I'm going to take a guess that the bridge had a serious design flaw or an original construction mistake that was the root cause of this tragedy.

My kids were planning on going to the twins game yesterday evening for student night and decided not to go. We would have been worried sick. My wife is a switch board operator a a big twin cities hospital and it was quite a night, people were frantically trying to locate loved ones. She came home in tears last night.
Life can be over at any moment....

CNN has security camera footage of the collapse. It scary how the entire span just gave way.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/08/02/vosli.mn.i35w.bridge.collapse.side.view.cnn

We here in Minneapolis/St. Paul are all still totally beside ourselves and cant for the life of us believe this happened. With all the national news people here now and everyone wondering what the heck happened. I am still shocked and slept very little last night. Its become a tragedy of historical proportions here in Mn for sure. Its just so sureal that you would never believe any of this actually happened unless its so close to home you cant not miss it. I guess I really just dont know how to describe it.:(

Horrible collapse - I wonder if the train had anything to do with it? I saw on CNN that bus in the picture had kids on it, although it's summer - heard they were all OK. Prayers go out to everyone affected by this.

The train was actually just some parked railroad cars.

I can't watch video at work, but I did see an arial photo and was shocked to see how much actually collapsed. I thought it was just the span over the river but a lot more than that went down. Knowing that, I'm surprise the casualty counts are as low as they are. The sections must have gone down in somewhat of a slow manner, you know, crumbling and toppling over instead of simply free falling to the ground/river.

I feel bad for the folks who have friends or family that are missing but not yet accounted for.

My wife also works at a St Paul side hospital. She was mid-shift when it happened, and called to say they were in a code orange alert meaning she was in the ER ready for triage and support, and she wasn't sure if she was going to be coming home and I needed to make plans for the kids while I was at work. They called it off later after the brunt of incoming had settled, but they also were getting a lot of re-routed ambulances since U of M, Fairview Riverside, Hennepin County Medical Center (the #1 trauma in area), and Minneapolis Children's were all getting the immediate injured.

I want to reiterate what was already said by a few. The people in the accident themselves, as well as the neighborhood and passers-by didn't just run or stand and watch. There were more people running TO it than away from what I have seen and heard. The contingency plans were put into effect ASAP, including volunteers who did things like bring in 30 pizzas. There were porta-potties and emergency lights brought in ASAP, I saw the water rescue and diaster trucks from my area leave as things were being announced on the radio, and in general there was almost too many people there to help.

Too bad traffic will now suck even more for the next few years.

Well hey.. At least they got their Light rail from Minneapolis to the mall of America :rolleyes:
Anyone for a gas tax increase?

The sections must have gone down in somewhat of a slow manner, you know, crumbling and toppling over instead of simply free falling to the ground/river.

I feel bad for the folks who have friends or family that are missing but not yet accounted for.

I was thinking the same but from the video from MN DOT show it happens within seconds for the span crossing the river - straight drop down.

I still can't believe this has happened as many have said it is surreal. I am amazed at how low the toll is but saddened that it will only get much worse once they work the river.

Lots of pictures here: http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=10546


My Dad is a Minneapolis Cop, He is a Lieutenant and him and his team has been there all night. He called me this morning and I got a little insight. There is going to be a lot more dead. There is lots of cars completely submerged and some under the bridge. They haven't even bother to check them as yesterday the goal was to rescue those who could be rescued. Now they are starting a recovery. This is not good.

~HJ

There is a strong current in that stretch of river and along with the loose debris rebar sticking out everywhere and about zero visability, no way they could continue in the dark. Then all the gas oil and diesel in the water poses a health hazzard for the divers. That is one gutsy young lady they showed on the news in only a wet suit and a rope tied to her going under and checking cars for victims. That kind of said it all.
I was laying in bed thinking about the conditions of Americas bridges and the reports of deficiencies for years and the Government (state and Federal)constantly cutting the budgets for highways and bridges. Yet they let an "IDIOT" from Alaska have his earmark in the millions to build his infamous bridge to noware!:mad: Along with all the pork spending year after year to buy votes that the money from could have possibly kept this tragedy from happening!:sad:

CNN has a video clip of the collapse:
"video captures bridge collapse"
http://www.cnn.com/video/

Anybody pick up on the fact that it is on I-35, the new NAFTA Corridor!

I figure that there will be more big bridges drop to make room for the 1100' wide double bridge, double mainline RR track road NAFTA corridor as it heads south to the Mexican border!

And I think as an ME, I am able to detect sabatage too! BUT NO ME's were allowed to check 911 over, remember!!

Isn't the timeline for the NAFTA Highway like 2014 to 2016 or so???

And fwiw, They are working I-35 over in KCMO right now!!

KCMO is going to be one of, if NOT, the largest free trade port in the World when it is finished!!!

Can you say, "No comprende englea"!!!!

pdq67

i was wondering when the "NAFTA superhighway" conspiracy would come up.
and i'm not surprised you were the one that brought it up..
so, when is the 35E bridge a few miles away gonna accidentally come down?

and some people say i have no class..

i was wondering when the "NAFTA superhighway" conspiracy would come up.
and i'm not surprised you were the one that brought it up..
so, when is the 35E bridge a few miles away gonna accidentally come down?..

The sooner the better, take out the whole 45mph stretch while you're at it. It's horrible driving.

What about the 35W bridge over the MN river between Bloomington and Burnsville? Might as well cripple the twin cities while they're at it and drop the cedar ave and 3rd st (Central Ave) bridges too, unless they want to add some "urban tourism" up on Lake St. Joking, but traffic will continue to suck for years to come.

Another reason I'm glad I live in the boonies... Where will all that traffic go for the next few years while they replace it?

they are talking about using the lock and dam right next to the bridge to lower the river as much as they can to get better access to the site and lower the currents thru there. i wonder how deep the water is, and just how low they can make the river?

the are showing home video footage shot from the apartments overlooking it from lees than a few minutes after it fell.. there were more people running towards it than away from it..

And fwiw, They are working I-35 over in KCMO right now!!



Where at Paul, downtown? :confused:

I think they are working on every existing road/highway, at least everywhere I go.

Its also strange to notice that 4 of the 6 lanes of traffic on this bridge were closed because of construction. Resulting in less then half the traffic that is typically seen on it during rush hour. Im not sure, but I am wondering, if thats 2 lanes of traffic, at less then half the traffic capacity, that means half the weight or whatever the construction equipment would weigh. I wonder if it collapsed at about half or under the typical weight?

the are showing home video footage shot from the apartments overlooking it from lees than a few minutes after it fell.. there were more people running towards it than away from it..

While I do not doubt some peoples intentions to help I honestly think the reason was the same that folks ran to the trade center area when the planes hit, why folks slow down to see bad car accidents, why neighborhoods will gather to watch one house in their area burn down, why people gather at plane crash sites, etc. Im sure some of it was the "selflessness" mentioned previously but a good bunch were merely curious and wanted to see it.

Unless this area is different than all other areas of the country I have visited.

While I do not doubt some peoples intentions to help I honestly think the reason was the same that folks ran to the trade center area when the planes hit, why folks slow down to see bad car accidents, why neighborhoods will gather to watch one house in their area burn down, why people gather at plane crash sites, etc. Im sure some of it was the "selflessness" mentioned previously but a good bunch were merely curious and wanted to see it.

Unless this area is different than all other areas of the country I have visited.

Being from California we will forgive you. You obviously have no clue about the people FROM Minnesota.. or the Midwest in General.
Minnesota nice is a tradition that stems from the harsh Winters here... People are just used to helping each other out as a matter of survival.

What I don't understand is this morning the news was reporting 9 confirmed dead, now it's down to 4. :confused: If that is all that were to have perished in this horrible event, it would be truly amazing, but it sure seems unlikely that is going to be the outcome.

last I heard there were 30 people missing !!! so the death toll will rise to be sure

I hate to say anything bad when people have died becouse of it ... but if this doesn't serve as a WAKE UP notice to our leaders to quit giving money to other country's & lining their own pockets ..... an start doing the upkeep on our bridge's & R/R & Highways ....... I know its a fools dream to even think they would protect US ... the tax payers :sad:

What I don't understand is this morning the news was reporting 9 confirmed dead, now it's down to 4. :confused: If that is all that were to have perished in this horrible event, it would be truly amazing, but it sure seems unlikely that is going to be the outcome.

At first they made some sort of guesstimation or whatever technical speak you call it. A basic idea after getting an idea of the situation they are dealing with. Our governor was asking that same question at first also.

Even the History Channel is running programming about bridges now.

Oddly enough, the history channel did a show on the collapsing of bridges and roadways in the US, starting back in the 20's or30's. It's a rare occurrence, but the number of collapses is still high - when it happens again we all think it's the first time, and attempt to place the "blame".

Really, accidents happen, and it's too early to speculate why it fell. The show I mentioned highlighted what we've learned from each collapse, and what's been changed to make the roads and bridges safer after the collapses, including retrofitting existing structures. Hopefully some good will come of this after we learn more.

as of @10:00 central time, 5 dead, 8 still missing and about 60 cars still in the water. So assuming the missing are gone, that's (only) 13 dead total. Unbelieveable.

One thought for the collapse is that there was a lot of stationary weight on the closed side from construction vehicles doing the new concrete work and it was all near the point where the bridge meets land, so it may have put additional stresses there. Bridges are made for weight to continually pass over, not stay stationary right?

think that you are refering to what Gov Rick Perry (R) Texas is calling the Trans Texas Corridor. That thing is DOA, it is proposed as a Toll facility.

as of @10:00 central time, 5 dead, 8 still missing and about 60 cars still in the water. So assuming the missing are gone, that's (only) 13 dead total. Unbelieveable.

One thought for the collapse is that there was a lot of stationary weight on the closed side from construction vehicles doing the new concrete work and it was all near the point where the bridge meets land, so it may have put additional stresses there. Bridges are made for weight to continually pass over, not stay stationary right?

Well, its certainly a common spot during rush hour so it would have to be built for stationary traffic I would think.