Minneapolis bridge collapses

jon1856 · #1 08-01-2007, 08:49 PM

So far three reported dead. School bus on bridge; unknown at this time if occupied. Near Univ of Minnesota.
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - A bridge carrying a four-lane state highway across the Mississippi river in central Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour on Wednesday, plunging cars and trucks into the river.
The bridge carrying Route 35W, which was under repair, buckled and fell into the river at about 6:10 p.m. CDT, local media reported.
Witnesses said they heard a rumbling sound as the bridge collapsed into the river. Local media reported 20 to 30 injuries but initially no deaths.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...2?feedType=RSS
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bri...pse/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291790,00.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20079534/

ΣΣΣMagan · #2 08-01-2007, 08:54 PM

I just heard about this on CNN. This is horrible! My thoughts and praryers are with everyone involved.

smiley21 · #3 08-01-2007, 09:16 PM

I heard on Fox News that the bus had children on it and they were okay. Then again, so much information is coming and everything is confusing.

justabeachbrat · #4 08-01-2007, 09:27 PM

Prayers to all affected by it.

For Ohio, (southestern?) this must be really erie. Some of my relatives come from Point Pleasant (WV), where the sliver bridge (don't know if that was its official name), collapsed into the Ohio River , it connected WV with Gallipolis OH in 1969. It was a major route for east/west trucking and way for workers to the atomic power plant upriver. My great aunt, and grandma had many friends in area. Several people died in collapse. The movie "Mothman Prophicies (sp wrong, i know, spell check is acting up.) was based on folklore surrounding the collapse.

smiley21 · #5 08-01-2007, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justabeachbrat

The movie "Mothman Prophicies (sp wrong, i know, spell check is acting up.) was based on folklore surrounding the collapse.

I was just thinking about this movie. It came on tv last week so I watched it. (I saw it before in the theater). I was watching it thinking how horrible it would be if I was in something like that. Here in Jacksonville, there are a lot of overpasses and ramps popping up everywhere. Several just opened a few days ago. It is one of things that you think about but never really believe that it could happen. I can't imagine what those people experienced today.

Thetagirl218 · #6 08-01-2007, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smiley21

I was just thinking about this movie. It came on tv last week so I watched it. (I saw it before in the theater). I was watching it thinking how horrible it would be if I was in something like that. Here in Jacksonville, there are a lot of overpasses and ramps popping up everywhere. Several just opened a few days ago. It is one of things that you think about but never really believe that it could happen. I can't imagine what those people experienced today.

Going to school in Jacksonville, I thought the same thing. In a city surrounded by bridges and a river, I often think about it. Call me crazy, but I acutally avoid going on a specific bridge in the city (Matthews) because it looks exactly like the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

I have been born and raised and Tampa Bay and have grown up hearing the horror stories from my family about the day in 1980 with the Sunshine Skyway got hit by a tanker and over 30 people died!

My prayers go to out to all effected by the bridge collapse !!!

jon1856 · #7 08-02-2007, 12:45 AM

From what I just heard on CNN, this may collapse MAY BE very closely related to the The Mianus Bridge Collapse:
http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1984/har8403.htm

Seems as if there was a report in one of the local papers several years ago talking about the possibility of some connectors failing.

smiley21 · #8 08-02-2007, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thetagirl218

Going to school in Jacksonville, I thought the same thing. In a city surrounded by bridges and a river, I often think about it. Call me crazy, but I acutally avoid going on a specific bridge in the city (Matthews) because it looks exactly like the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

I hate Matthews. I am just glad that I rarely used that bridge. It is so old and even with all the repairs that is going on, the bridge makes me nervous.

kathykd2005 · #9 08-01-2007, 09:33 PM

This is INSANE! I will definitely be thinking about these people and their families!!!

justabeachbrat · #10 08-01-2007, 09:42 PM

I currently live in the central valley. CA. just yesterday, a bridge in a freeway revamping construction project fell down. it is a route I often take. I'd become irritated about the delays caused by the project. Luckily, no one died but a delivery truck driver was badly hurt, and two cops rescued a motorist pinned in the debris, they were on national CBS morning show.

justabeachbrat · #11 08-01-2007, 09:55 PM

a clarification....neighbor says what fell down here, central CA, was an overpass.

DeltAlum · #12 08-01-2007, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justabeachbrat

Prayers to all affected by it.

For Ohio, (southestern?) this must be really erie. Some of my relatives come from Point Pleasant (WV), where the sliver bridge (don't know if that was its official name), collapsed into the Ohio River , it connected WV with Gallapolis, OH in 1969. It was a major route for east/west trucking and way for workers to the atomic power plant upriver. My great aunt, and grandma had many friends in area. Several people died in collapse. The movie "Mothman Prophicies (sp wrong, i know, spell check is acting up.) was based on folklore surrounding the collapse.

Southeastern Ohio would be fairly accurate, and the bridge was named The Silver Bridge.

I wonder if your relatives might have known my great aunt and uncle who was the city auditor of Gallipolis at that time.

I remember the incident because I was on the air on a Sunday afternoon at a commercial radio station in Athens, Ohio -- probably 50 miles from Gallipolis. I received a call from the local Ohio State Highway Patrol (Athens) post that the bridge had fallen. Having no way to check myself, I called the Columbus bureau of the Associated Press and the word got out from there. We were the first media outlet to have the story. Of course our news director left for the site immediately. I also called a photographer friend at the Ohio University TV station where I also worked at the time and he shot some of the first footage of the scene. I think the year would have been 1967, though because I was no longer with the station in 1969.

The bridge spanned the Ohio River between Kanauga, Ohio (close to Gallipolis) and Point Pleasant, West Virginia. This event also happened in the late afternoon, and over 40 people were killed.

Here is a link to a story on that disaster.

http://www.wvculture.org/HiStory/dis...rbridge03.html

As of 9:00 PM Denver time today, the death toll in Minneapolis stands at seven and authorities expect it to rise.

Fortunately, our neice in the Twin Cities is OK.

I've also driven across the 35W bridge in the past.

justabeachbrat · #13 08-02-2007, 12:35 PM

correcting myself. silver bridge, over ohio river, collapsed in 1967, should have googled it. it was before my time. yesterday's collapse prompted phone calls between my mom and friends still living back there (ohio). my older brother, although just a kid then, remembers my mom staying up all night when the silver bridge went down, calling people in her hometown trying to find out how everyone was. the father of one of her school friends died and a friend of hers was on bridge, and survived.

with the drivers going in today in minneapolis, prayers again for that city.

ForeverRoses · #14 08-02-2007, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justabeachbrat

correcting myself. silver bridge, over ohio river, collapsed in 1967, should have googled it. it was before my time. yesterday's collapse prompted phone calls between my mom and friends still living back there (ohio). my older brother, although just a kid then, remembers my mom staying up all night when the silver bridge went down, calling people in her hometown trying to find out how everyone was. the father of one of her school friends died and a friend of hers was on bridge, and survived.

with the drivers going in today in minneapolis, prayers again for that city.

I remember hearing about that bridge collapse. They had a 25year rememberance thing when I was in college. They showed all of the old news reports.

I cannot imagine what it is like to be looking for a family member. I don't know what would be worse- knowing that they were gone, or not knowing either way.

DeltAlum · #15 08-02-2007, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justabeachbrat

correcting myself. silver bridge, over ohio river, collapsed in 1967, should have googled it. it was before my time. yesterday's collapse prompted phone calls between my mom and friends still living back there (ohio). my older brother, although just a kid then, remembers my mom staying up all night when the silver bridge went down, calling people in her hometown trying to find out how everyone was. the father of one of her school friends died and a friend of hers was on bridge, and survived.

If you're interested, I posted a link to some Silver Bridge information earlier in this thread. (on page 1)

ETA that two things occurred to me. Earlier, I said that the Silver Bridge collapse was on Sunday. I thought that because I was working at the radio station mostly on weekends at that point. The disaster actually was Friday, December 15. That would make sense, because I volunteered to work at the station over Christmas Break that year so another staff member could go home and see his family. The collapse happened just after 5:00 PM, so everyone else had gone home for the day.

Second, it struck me that the 35W bridge was completed and opened to traffic in 1967 -- the same year as the Silver Bridge collapse.