Bridge collapses in Minnesota

**Miss Z** · 08-02-2007, 09:19 AM

Oh my gosh, I can't begin to imagine what a frightening experience that must have been.

My thoughts are with those families who've lost loved ones, and those that are injured.

**Pam** · 08-02-2007, 04:08 PM

Gov. Jon Corzine of NJ has just said that all NJ bridges will be inspected with 45 days. Any bridge not passing inspection will be shut down. This is very encouraging news to me particularly as I use these bridges all the time. I hope that all of the other governors follow suit.

**lvpets2002** · 08-02-2007, 04:17 PM

That was just so devastating & horrible.. I just cant even imagine how those people felt.. My Prayers to All..

**momoffuzzyfaces** · 08-02-2007, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Pam

Absolutely horrifying! I have been watching the coverage on Fox since it started. Prayers going up for everyone involved.

Same for me Pam!!! It's just awful!!! Lots and lots of prayers are on the way!!!

I'm so glad all the children on that bus got off safely!!

**ramanth** · 08-02-2007, 04:58 PM

What a terrifying experience.

Many prayers out to those involved.

I wonder if the Mackinac bridge is now being checked.

**Anita Cholaine** · 08-02-2007, 05:05 PM

Gosh, what a frightening experience for all the people involved

. It was so shoking to watch it on tv, I couldn't really believe what I was seeing. Prayers for the injured and those who lost loved ones.

**Alysser** · 08-02-2007, 05:10 PM

RELATIVES HOPE, PRAY AS RIVER SEARCH CONTINUES

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Clutching photographs and license plate numbers, dozens of distraught people Thursday waited for word of their loved ones missing after Wednesday's deadly bridge collapse.

The Red Cross has set up a family assistance center in the ballroom at the nearby Holiday Inn-Metrodome, where it's offering counseling as authorities try to recover bodies lodged in the wreckage.

As many as 50 vehicles are trapped in the rubble or in the river after the eight-lane interstate bridge collapsed during Minneapolis' evening rush hour. Twenty to 30 people were missing, Minneapolis police Chief Tim Dolan said.

Four people were confirmed dead, and officials said at least 79 people were injured when the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River buckled.

President Bush on Thursday pledged federal aid to rebuild the bridge, and the White House announced he will visit the disaster site Saturday. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said $5 million was being made available immediately to pay for traffic flow adjustments and debris removal.

Jessica Engebretsen, waiting near the bridge for news of her mother, asked people to pray for the missing.

Her sister, Anne, struggled to hold back the tears as she described her mom, Sherry Engebretsen, as "a fighter."

"She'll make it, she's a strong woman, she's gonna come back home," Anne told CNN. Watch family try to stay positive while awaiting word on woman's fate »

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Other relatives of the missing gathered at a hotel to await word from officials.

"I've never wanted to see my brother so much in my life," Kristi Foster told The Associated Press. She hadn't heard from her brother Kirk or his girlfriend since the collapse.

"We know of several people who were pinned or trapped" that have died, Dolan said.

"People that were pinned, people that were partly crushed ... told emergency workers to say ... goodbye," Dolan said. "It was an amazing, amazing scene."

The water below the collapsed bridge is about 7 to 8 feet deep -- just covering the roofs of the dozens of cars that are in the water, Dolan said.

Dolan said he believes there may be 20 vehicles in the water that the workers cannot even see.

The bridge fell 60 feet, about six stories, into the river. See a diagram of the bridge »

Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek said conditions in the Mississippi River were treacherous for divers, as the twisted steel and blocks of pavement were pushed around by river currents. He said the search could go on for five days or longer.

Investigators will try to reassemble the bridge to determine what caused the collapse, said Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Security camera video showed the Interstate 35W bridge's center section collapsing into the river in less than four seconds. The northern end of the span appeared to drop first, and the southern end followed. Witnesses describe the chaotic scene »

CNN obtained the video from a source who asked to remain unidentified because they were not authorized to distribute it publicly.

Rosenker said video of the collapse is the equivalent of getting a plane's flight data recorder after a crash and would allow investigators to move much faster to find out what caused the disaster.

Gary Babineau was driving his truck across the bridge as it fell.

"I could see the whole bridge as it was going down and as I was falling, and it just gave a rumble real quick, and it all just gave way, and it just fell completely all the way to the ground," Babineau said. See photos of the disaster »

"This particular section of freeway was under repair," Minneapolis fire Chief Jim Clack said. "We don't know yet what caused the collapse."

A school bus filled with more than 50 children who were returning from a summer field trip was among the vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed.

Tony Wagner, the president of a local nonprofit social services group that organized the trip, said eight of the kids, ages 5 to 14, were hospitalized.

Mark Lacroix, who lives on the 20th floor of an apartment building near the bridge, told CNN he saw the last seconds of the collapse.

"I heard this massive rumbling and shaking ... and looked out my window," Lacroix said. "It just fell right into the river."

According to the Minneapolis Riverfront District Web site, the steel arch bridge was opened in 1967. Its longest span stretches 458 feet over the river, and it was constructed with no mid-river piers to facilitate river traffic.

The bridge was undergoing nonstructural re-decking work, U.S. Transportation Department spokesman Brian Turmail said.

A 2001 study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Transportation found "several fatigue problems" in the bridge's approach spans and "poor fatigue details" on the main truss.

The study suggested that the design of bridge's main truss could cause a collapse if one of two support planes were to become cracked, although it allowed that a collapse might not occur in that event. But, the study concluded, "fatigue cracking of the deck truss is not likely" and "replacement of the bridge ... may be deferred."

Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory database said the bridge was "structurally deficient."

The bridge received a rating of 4 on a scale of 0 to 9. A bridge receives a rating of 4 when there is "advanced section loss, deterioration."

About 140,000 cars a day travel over the bridge, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

All About U.S. Department of Transportation • Mississippi River

**RICHARD** · 08-02-2007, 06:13 PM

Prayers out to the whole area and everyone involved.
Here in Lost Angeles we know about falling freeways/hiways. In 1994
there were quite a few bridges down.

-----------------

Now for my rant.......

Dear media,

ENOUGH OF THE "INTERNET REPORTERS", PLEASE!

Every media outlet asks the public to "email or send your pictures or videos into the station".

Then the interview goes like this...

" I was on my way to the Kwik E Mart for the two chili dogs for 99 cents special because my mom has the flu and she can't walk because of the plantar's wart on her foot. I made a turn on second street and the big labrador that chases me all the time didn't so I knew that something was going to go wrong today.

At the street light I was texting my best friend for the news about the Spice Girls reunion.....then the bridge fell and I took pictures.

--------------

I cannot stand the crappy, jerky look of camera phone video.

IT reminds me of those 1920 movies..ack!

**davidpizzica** · 08-03-2007, 11:49 AM

The bridge collaspe tragedy in Minneapolis have a lot of people in Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh government worried about our bridges. Pittsburgh has the nickname of "The city of bridges" due to the fact that there are three major rivers in the Pittsburgh area. A lot of them are older than the bridge that collasped. There are crews out looking at and inspecting bridges. It could happen here, too.

**IRescue452** · 08-03-2007, 12:42 PM

You know what really really bothers me... the news had to mention terrorism about 50 times the first night when the bridge collapsed. I didn't even think of terrorism at all. Honestly, this is how that damn war gets funded, they scare people into thinking we might be under attack. If I hear the word terrorism in the story about the bridge one more time I'm going to become the freaking terrorist. You want to steal my paycheck money for taxes for your war on "terrorism"? I'll get my money's worth.

**Pam** · 08-03-2007, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by IRescue452

You know what really really bothers me... the news had to mention terrorism about 50 times the first night when the bridge collapsed. I didn't even think of terrorism at all. Honestly, this is how that damn war gets funded, they scare people into thinking we might be under attack. If I hear the word terrorism in the story about the bridge one more time I'm going to become the freaking terrorist. You want to steal my paycheck money for taxes for your war on "terrorism"? I'll get my money's worth.

Actually, terrorism is the first thing that came to my mind. They said early on that bridges and tunnels were prime targets.

**Pembroke_Corgi** · 08-03-2007, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by IRescue452

You want to steal my paycheck money for taxes for your war on "terrorism"?

If not for fundamental infrastructure, like bridges, where the heck is tax money going? Last night there was story on the local news about how many bridges in the Denver area should be replaced rather than patched up, but the "money isn't there." Huh? What the heck am I paying for it not for basic services?

I wish there was a box you could check when doing your taxes- "I would not like to fund the war with my tax dollars," or "I would like to fund the war with my tax dollars." I bet the conflict would end very shortly.

I just wish people would start to put the value of human lives above money! Sadly, this tragedy and Katrina show that just isn't the case.

**RICHARD** · 08-03-2007, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by IRescue452

You want to steal my paycheck money for taxes for your war on "terrorism"?

Hey, I'm gonna file a police report!

Dang Feds...

**cassiesmom** · 08-03-2007, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by david p

The bridge collaspe tragedy in Minneapolis have a lot of people in Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh government worried about our bridges. Pittsburgh has the nickname of "The city of bridges" due to the fact that there are three major rivers in the Pittsburgh area. A lot of them are older than the bridge that collasped. There are crews out looking at and inspecting bridges. It could happen here, too.

Mayor Daley ordered inspections of bridges and viaducts in Chicago, and I believe Gov. Blagojevich has ordered inspections to be done on all bridges in Illinois. Daley has gone on the radio to say that chicago's bridges are very safe, routinely inspected and maintained. The thing about Chicago is that there's no one bridge that functions as a main artery in the same way the 35W bridge does up in Minneapolis. We've had a few scary mishaps with trucks and buses running into viaducts on main streets, though.

**IRescue452** · 08-04-2007, 07:36 AM

Mayor Daley ordered inspections of bridges and viaducts in Chicago, and I believe Gov. Blagojevich has ordered inspections to be done on all bridges in Illinois. Daley has gone on the radio to say that chicago's bridges are very safe, routinely inspected and maintained.

I think they are doing a very good job at a quick cover up so people forget about what could happen. Keep in mind, this bridge that collapsed was regularily inspected and maintained as well.