Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Pretty amazing stories (and live reports on FoxNews and CNN) coming from this story, please post as you receive them, I will do the same.


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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.

web page

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Ever since the bay quake in 89 I've been scared to stop under overpasses.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

I was in a bar with my dad watching this. This is a huge huge story. We put the o/u on deaths at 50 and likely 300+ injuries.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Local media reported 20 to 30 injuries; 2 Dead.. (This is just initial, pretty freakin scary, I hate bridges to begin with)
http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/ph..._M_bridge3.jpg

http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/ph..._M_bridge4.jpg

http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/ph..._M_bridge1.jpg

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

[ QUOTE ]
We put the o/u on deaths at 50 and likely 300+ injuries.

[/ QUOTE ]
Holy Christ.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

I remember something like this happening (on a smaller scale) on an interstate in upstate NY near where I lived when I was growing up. Not having any sense for what interstates were back then, the sheer WTF of it was lost on me. But this is some scary [censored].

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

CNN reporting busloads of 9-11 year old children on the bridge.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

35W is the biggest metropolitan highway and at that time of day was bumper to bumper on the bridge, way way more than 20 cars involved in this.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Just looked this up on Google Maps satellite. Although it crosses the Mississippi, the river by that point is relatively tiny, i.e. it isn't a long bridge at all. I'm always amazed when I go back to the Midwest just how much all the bridges look/seem though. Probably a rust thing.

EDIT: NM on the crossing, I had it crossing something else. If I have the crossing correct now it's right next to downtown Minny.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

I have a number of friends in the Twin Cities, hoping everyone is OK.

I see on top of this that thunderstorms could hit the area in the next hour too.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

They are saying the span over the river is 500 feet long, not including the areas that collapsed over land.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Just noticed this bridge was under construction. Yesterday a bridge under construction in Cali collapsed as well.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

[ QUOTE ]
Just noticed this bridge was under construction. Yesterday a bridge under construction in Cali collapsed as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought I'd heard something about a highway bridge collapsing before this. Kind of a weird coincidence; how long till people start talking about terrorism?

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

its the bigger bridge on the left, all of that is in the river at bumper to bumper traffic. I think 50 deaths is reasonable..

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2622/35yu1.jpg

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

[ QUOTE ]
Probably a rust thing.

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My initial thought was foundation/soil issues but im no engineer. If the bridge was under construction as is now being reported, that opens the door to a whole lot of things that could have gone wrong. My thoughts go out to everyone involved.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Cubswin,

I just mean that it must be the rusting that makes them look old. There is no rust in Phoenix. I wasn't referring to the integrity of the structure.

Vehn, I was looking at that exact image. For some reason I can't copy/paste Google Maps images, it annoys the hell out of me that I don't know how to do that...

EDIT: BTW if the collapse got caught on camera that would be some sick-ass footage.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

They're now saying on CNN that 50-100 cars were on it and some random witness said he could see seven dead bodies but isn't saying much else.

Horrific. That storm coming in is gonna make this really bad. Thoughts to anyone involved or knowing anyone involved...what a nightmare.

- C -

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

It sounds like some of the lanes were closed on the bridge so that would explain the reports having such low numbers on the amount of cars.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

I drove across this bridge twice yesterday, to and from Canterbury Park! [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

I was just down there taking pictures, none of which compare to the news shots.

Pretty tragic event. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

oh man.. this is like my one major phobia in life. I'm mostly over it now, but as a kid driving over bridges scared me to death, and this is why.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

I'm more scared driving in tunnels in earthquake country. Fat chance anyone's going to get a mountain up off you.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

it really depends on how the bridge went down. if it went down fast it could obviously be really bad. if it collapsed slowly and sunk, people may have had more time to get out of their cars and swim.

terrible news

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Oh yeah... my wife and I also ran UNDERNEATH that bridge last night. We are thankful to be alive.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Some people are idiots.

Eyewitness: I thought no big deal(after seeing the bridge collapse).

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Me and the wife had plans tomorrow night that would've carried us over that bridge at about 6pm.

A scary thought indeed for us.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

[ QUOTE ]
it really depends on how the bridge went down. if it went down fast it could obviously be really bad. if it collapsed slowly and sunk, people may have had more time to get out of their cars and swim.

terrible news

[/ QUOTE ]

They're saying on the news it DID go down really fast.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

hmm o/u probably heavy then if lanes were closed.. obv cause is construction, pretty dumb to be working on it during rush hour.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

My godkids' daycare is more or less right under this bridge on the north side. I was both over and under it yesterday. Fortunately they and their parents were home already and are OK.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

[ QUOTE ]
if it collapsed slowly and sunk, people may have had more time to get out of their cars and swim.


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The river isn't all that deep there. Most of the road surface remains above water. There were a few cars swept into the river, but most of them are still above water in the wreckage.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

This is crazy. I used to drive across that bridge every day going to/from work. 6 months ago there is a decent chance I'd be crossing it right around that time. I drove across it last night at that time on the way to the Twins game.

I talked to a friend who had driven across it about 2 minutes before hand. He had driven about 2-3 blocks down University (the exit is at the end of the bridge) when he heard/felt it happen.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

What you really don't get from the pictures is how far that bridge was above the river. Those bluffs are pretty high.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Here are some of the photos I took.

I heard a kid with blood on his face talking to an AP reporter. He was one of the first people on the scene pulling people out of cars. He described it as 'carnage'.

http://www.snarescience.com/style/bridge1.jpg
http://www.snarescience.com/style/bridge2.jpg
http://www.snarescience.com/style/bridge3.jpg
http://www.snarescience.com/style/bridge4.jpg
http://www.snarescience.com/style/bridge5.jpg
http://www.snarescience.com/style/bridge6.jpg

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

That one picture does a good job of showing how high it was. It was at the same level as the 10th Ave. bridge which you see trucks on.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

I don't cross that bridge that much - almost crossed it last week - it's about 60 feet off the ground.

heard they were resurfacing - I know that stretch of 35W was closed this weekend cause I tried to cross it but couldn't - train was passing under one side of it and the span collapsed on the tracks, so maybe the freight train vibrations took something down -

reports are it was shaking and rocking and then just started collapsing like it was made of cards -

one fatality (possibly 3) - local news is keeping us up to date - I'm about a mile away at work -

about 100K cars cross it every day -

rb

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

I'm okay, if anyone cares.

Got called into work. You can imagine that the cell network there is basically melting. Techs in route to add capacity.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

[ QUOTE ]
I don't cross that bridge that much - almost crossed it last week - it's about 60 feet off the ground.

heard they were resurfacing - I know that stretch of 35W was closed this weekend cause I tried to cross it but couldn't - train was passing under one side of it and the span collapsed on the tracks, so maybe the freight train vibrations took something down -

reports are it was shaking and rocking and then just started collapsing like it was made of cards -

one fatality (possibly 3) - local news is keeping us up to date - I'm about a mile away at work -

about 100K cars cross it every day -

rb

[/ QUOTE ]

whiskeytown,

It is a fact that the train we see crushed by part of the bridge was moving during the collapse?

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

2002 traffic counts put it at 140k cars/day. Easily 170k+ now a days I imagine.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

Does anybody have any profile views of the bridge before the collapse? There are many possible failure mechanisms and a clear picture of the structural system would make it easier to identify them.

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

[ QUOTE ]
2002 traffic counts put it at 140k cars/day. Easily 170k+ now a days I imagine.

[/ QUOTE ] -

yah, it's a pretty important bridge into downtown - traffic commuting is gonna get a lot more complicated from the NE into downtown.

I haven't heard if the train was moving when it got crushed. I suspect investigation is still a few days away.

RB

Re: Bridge collapses in Minnesota
 

I was wondering why the Twins game was still going on, here is an excerpt from Gambling911 from Foxnews:

"Wednesday night's game was continuing out of fear that letting fans out early would hinder rescue efforts."

Thursdays game canceled.