Posted August 2, 200718 yr MINNEAPOLIS(AP) 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. The entire span of the 35W bridge collapsed about 6:05 p.m. where the freeway crosses the river near University Avenue. 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.
August 2, 200718 yr Author live coverage here http://www.foxnews.com/ on the news now in NY at 8:09pm EST just happened
August 2, 200718 yr Author more info on this I-35W Bridge Collapse Into Mississippi River http://img.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_image_280183545Slideshow: I-35W Bridge Collapse (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. "My truck got completely torn in half," said Gary Bavanaugh, who was on the bridge when it collapsed. "The bridge started shaking and it went down fast." Bavanaugh said he was headed northbound on I-35W when he heard a huge rumbling and he saw a huge cloud of white dust as the bridge collapsed. He had his seatbelt on and said if he hadn't, his head would have gone through the windshield. Bavanaugh said a school bus full of children was ahead of him. He got on the bus and helped children, who he estimated to be 8-12 years old, off the bus and off the bridge. "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 between the ages of 8 and 12 years old. 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. Stay tuned to WCCO.com and WCCO-TV for more information on this breaking news story.
August 2, 200718 yr I've driven over that bridge I'd say over 500 times. That's a scarey thought. That is their main artery into the city from the North. Gonna be massive congestion tomorrow.
August 2, 200718 yr before i read this i was thinking of the mississippi river bridge up in memphis but then i actually read it and its the minnesota bridge.
August 2, 200718 yr -INFO: ? Structure ID: NBI: 9340. ? Location: River Mile 853.20. ? River Elevation: 725 Feet. ? Highway: I-35W. ? Daily Traffic Count: 140,000 (2002). ? Bridge Type: Steel Arch Deck Truss Bridge. ? Length: 1,907 Feet, 458 Foot Longest Span. ? Width: 8 Traffic Lanes, 108 Feet. ? Navigation Channel Width: 390 Feet. ? Height Above Water: 64 Feet. ? Date Built: Opened November 1967, Failed August 1, 2007. Claim to fame: was built with a single 458 foot long steel arch to avoid putting any piers in the water to impede river navigation. This bridge features an anti-ice system. A series of PVC pipes carries a deicer fluid to outlets that are drilled into the deck of the bridge. When the temperature for ice is right, the deicer fluid is pumped onto the bridge deck. This system has proven to be successful enough that it is being installed on other bridges in Minnesota. -------------------- -Clean bill of heath...perfect shape lol...more info, from the NBI: The National Bridge Inventory contains a report on this bridge from 2003. It reports the following items: * Deck Condition: Fair. * Superstructure Condition: Poor. * Substructure Condition: Satisfactory. * Scour: Foundations determined to be stable. * Bridge Railings: Meets currently acceptable standards. * Structural Evaluation: Meets minimum tolerable limits to be left in place as-is. * Water Adequacy Evaluation: Superior to present desirable criteria. * Bridge Sufficiency Rating: 50% -------------------- -YAY info: A University of Minnesota Civil Engineer in a report to MN-DOT recently noted that this bridge is considered to be a non-redundant structure. That is, if any one member fails, the entire bridge can collapse. A key factor is that there are only four pylons holding up the arch. Any damage to any one pylon would be catastropic. The textbook example of a non-redundant bridge is the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River. It failed shortly before Christmas in 1967 resulting in 46 deaths. A single piece of hardware failed due to a tiny manufacturing defect. But that piece was non-redundant, and the entire bridge collapsed into the icy river. Today, bridge engineers design bridges so that any single piece of the bridge can fail without causing the entire bridge to collapse. It is tragic that the I-35W bridge was built a few years too early to benefit from that lesson.
August 2, 200718 yr Just read that, very sad, they still looking for survivors, somebody must look how old is that bridge, and why it got down, they will blame something soon.
August 2, 200718 yr Just read that, very sad, they still looking for survivors, somebody must look how old is that bridge, and why it got down, they will blame something soon. yea the blame game is going to begin soon, and its gonna be ugly!
August 2, 200718 yr yea the blame game is going to begin soon, and its gonna be ugly! -...LAWYERS...ready...ready...ATTACK!!!!!!!!
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