Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

Tyrell · Post by **Tyrell** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:55 pm

I-35W Bridge Collapse Into Mississippi River
(WCCO) Minneapolis 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.

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_213191448.html

redcanadian87 · Post by **redcanadian87** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:54 pm

ya... my dad got home from work at was watching videos on that.

Crazy! Can you imagine driving down the road, when suddenly your car drops 40 feet? That'd got to be an experience. I don't think they know of any more dead then one at this point, but I would imagine that there might be a few more. Oy!

Also, as far as I know, they cause of collapse is still unknown.

Aram · Post by **Aram** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:44 pm

As of 1130, 1030 CST.

They were still reporting only 6 fatalities. Thank God.

They do, however expect that number to rise, unfortunately.

They still also, have no idea even what precipitated the collapse.

Some are comparing it to the Oakland earthquake.

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:48 pm

I posted in the prayer closet, but I'll repeat it here--I'm asking for prayer for all involved.

Tyrell · Post by **Tyrell** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:25 pm

Aram wrote:They were still reporting only 6 fatalities. Thank God.

That just sounds wrong. >_>

FrayedAroundTheEdges · Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:30 pm

I was wondering when someone was goin to mke a thread about this anywayz...

a family friend is on a buisness trip to minneapolis and she said that she drove across the bridge literally 5 minutes before it collapsed.

Sherlock · Post by **Sherlock** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:33 am

I was fairly startled to receive a link to this story in my e-mail inbox this morning. From what I understand it has made fairly national news.

I can't say that I frequented the 35W freeway too much (It cuts through St. Paul, Minneapolis and then heads towards Iowa) but I do know that it is a heavily used thoroughfare and, as such, one hopes that it was not too crowded at the time the bridge went down.

Similarly, the word is that the bridge passed it's last inspection, and I haven't heard any word as to possible causes. Hopefully they get things sorted out.

amyinodyssey · Post by **amyinodyssey** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:20 am

My grandmother called last night to make sure none of my family was in Minneapolis. My Dad works for Northwest and sometimes the company flies him to Minneapolis/St. Paul for business. My grandma gets really concerned but she just wanted to make sure we weren't on that bridge. I do fell so bad for those who were on that bridge though. I did hear that when the bridge collapsed a train was passing by and it was chopped in half by the bridge. It is also known that the bridge didn't collapse because of terrorism but because the integrity of the bridge was bad.

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:21 pm

amyinodyssey wrote:but because the integrity of the bridge was bad.

Actually, they have no clue what caused it yet. This is earthquake type destruction, and MN doesn't have earthquakes.

That just sounds wrong. >_>

Let's assume that her words weren't put together perfectly--what she meant was the number isn't high, and b/c it should be and isn't, we should be grateful.

And it should've been a lot higher. That was an eight lane (yes, eight) bridge, the busiest in the state. Because of work on the bridge's surface (which didn't have anything to do with the structure really) two lanes were closed in each direction. So instead of eight lanes, we had four.

Then there's the river. The Mississippi is small in only one place: Itasca. But the Twin Cities is in the middle of a drought, and the river in that spot is only 9 feet deep. For the Mississippi in the Twin Cities, that's really shallow. Thanks to the Corps of Engineers, the river is 7 feet deep today (something I won't take the time to explain). If this had been a normal rainy summer, all those cars that managed to stay on the deck of the bridge would be gone.

Yep. Shoulda been a lot higher. Thankfully, it wasn't.

Sherlock · Post by **Sherlock** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:27 pm

Jonathan wrote:
amyinodyssey wrote:but because the integrity of the bridge was bad.
Actually, they have no clue what caused it yet. This is earthquake type destruction, and MN doesn't have earthquakes.

That's the first thing that came to mind for me as well when I heard about it. However, given the slim chance that it was a natural disaster, the next best guess to me would be some structural flaw, a pheonomenon not unheard of with bridges.

jasonjannajerryjohn · Post by **jasonjannajerryjohn** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:32 pm

I saw it on the news. It really was very sad.

Evil Chick · Post by **Evil Chick** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:00 pm

I'm glad you're ok, Jonathan! You were one of the first people I thought of when I heard about this. After my two uncles, that is. God is really good. My one uncle got out of work early and drove over the bridge an hour before it collapsed, and my other uncle drove over it about 10-15 minutes before the collapse. I'm definitely thanking God for that! Especially that my one uncle got out of work early. But, I, too am praying for those who were involved in this accident.

violet flower · Post by **violet flower** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:50 pm

It's so sad!:(

Post by **Catspaw** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:39 pm

Evil Chick wrote:I'm glad you're ok, Jonathan! You were one of the first people I thought of when I heard about this. After my two uncles, that is. God is really good. My one uncle got out of work early and drove over the bridge an hour before it collapsed, and my other uncle drove over it about 10-15 minutes before the collapse. I'm definitely thanking God for that! Especially that my one uncle got out of work early. But, I, too am praying for those who were involved in this accident.

Wow, that's pretty amazing! I'm so glad that your family there is okay! I thought of Jonathan and Hope when I first heard about the collapse too.

Jonathan Park · Post by **Jonathan Park** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:35 pm

It was very sad.

So far 5 people have died and many are still missing.

The Town of Odyssey