U.S Bridge collapses during rush hour

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Alan

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9 dead, 60 injured, 20 missing after dozens of vehicles plummet into river

An ordinary evening rush hour turned horrific Wednesday when the Interstate 35W bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis suddenly collapsed. Dozens of vehicles plunged to the water and roadways below, leaving scores of dazed commuters scrambling for their lives.

Rescue workers prepared to search a submerged vehicle in the Mississippi River that had been on the Interstate 35W bridge when it collapsed just after 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

An ordinary evening rush hour turned horrific Wednesday when the Interstate 35W bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis suddenly collapsed. Dozens of vehicles plunged to the water and roadways below, leaving scores of dazed commuters scrambling for their lives.
Nine people were confirmed dead, 60 were taken to hospitals and 20 people were still missing late Wednesday night. Authorities said they expected the death toll to rise.

Between 50 and 60 vehicles were on the bridge when it went down shortly after 6 p.m., authorities said. Legions of rescue workers and volunteers swarmed to the scene and spent hours sifting through the wreckage in a frantic search for survivors.

"This is a catastrophe of historic proportions for Minnesota," Gov. Tim Pawlenty said.

By late in the evening, officials said efforts at the Mississippi had switched from rescue to recovery.

Jay Danz, 45, of St. Paul, was on his way to the Metrodome to watch the Twins play Kansas City and had driven under W. River Parkway, beneath the interstate bridge, seconds before it fell.

"I heard it creaking and making all sorts of noises it shouldn't make," Danz said. "And then the bridge just started to fall apart."

In addition to the cars that went into the water, a school bus carrying about 60 Minneapolis children fell from the bridge, landing on all four of its tires and missing the water as it came to rest near the parkway.

Several of the children and at least two adults were treated for injuries after the group escaped through the back door of the bus.

"Some kids had blood on their faces, but thank God everybody could move," Danz said.

The cause of the collapse wasn't known in the hours afterward. It's too soon to know what happened, said Catherine E. Wolfgram French, a civil engineering professor at the University of Minnesota.

"Things can happen with temperature, and with construction, or a lot of other confounding factors," French said.

This was a 40-year-old truss bridge, and French did say that some early truss bridges don't have as many structural redundancies -- backups to carry the loads -- as is now considered desirable.

Another engineer, Michael Ramerth, a principal at MBJ Consulting Structural Engineers in Minneapolis, said in the search for answers "I would start at the foundations."

On a typical weekday, more than 100,000 cars use the bridge.

Berndt Toivonen, 51, of Minneapolis, was on his way home from a painting job when the bridge collapsed beneath his car.

"The bridge started to buckle," Toivonen said. "It went up and came down. I thought I was going to die."

What people in the area of the collapse experienced or saw at about 6:05 p.m. unfolded as motorists crawled bumper to bumper across I-35W toward the end of rush hour.

Those on the bridge felt buckling and swaying and heard a crunching.

Then came the unthinkable: The 40-year-old bridge collapsed, dumping vehicles into the water and onto land below. That was followed by scenes of frantic, bloodied motorists and rescuers who converged on the scene.

Many vehicles, including at least one semitrailer, were on fire. People were reported to be floundering in the river. Rescuers rushed to help people escape cars trapped in the V-shaped hollow where the bridge had caved in.

The school bus that fell was, returning from a day-camp swimming trip sponsored by a Waite House summer program.

"We collapsed," said Ryan Watkins, one of the children.

Crumpled wreckage lay on the east bank of the river, and a huge section of concrete roadway lay on the west bank. Down below in the river gorge, rescue workers scrambled to help people get out of the water.

Fire and black smoke rose from the wreckage.

Memorial Blood Centers and the American Red Cross put out immediate calls for blood donors. A center for families of those who are missing was set up at the Holiday Inn Metrodome.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued a statement Wednesday night saying there was no indication of terrorism.
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Pics here

:eek::eek:
 
Strange that no one seems to be saying why it collapsed?

However do you notice that everyone is not blaming the government already... could you imagine if the same thing happened here?
 
GavinMannion said:
Strange that no one seems to be saying why it collapsed?
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They dont know -
The cause of the collapse wasn't known in the hours afterward. It's too soon to know what happened, said Catherine E. Wolfgram French, a civil engineering professor at the University of Minnesota.
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gavin if a bridge collapsed it would be the old government's fault lol

i think if a bridge that lasted 40 years collapsed who can u really blame

why does everything always have to turn into government blaming

how could u know the reason so quickly, if they knew they would say why

we are human and things dont last forever, this sort of thing happens and its no point blaming anyone
 
*sigh*

Another bigot exposes himself :o
 
Can you say "class action law suit"?

Whoever is responsible for that bridge should be taken to the cleaners. :D
 
feo said:
One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ. :D
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Or in Fudzy's case prejudiced against somebody based only on their nationality :o
 
alanf85 said:
Or in Fudzy's case prejudiced against somebody based only on their nationality :o
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Pot meet kettle? Sorry, its probably got nothing to to do with the original construction. More the maintenance of things seems to be slacking to fatal level.
 
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I see some folks suspect terror attack? I doubt it, but if it is it might be enough to seriously change our world.
 
Terrible. :( I'm sure if it was terrorist related it would've come out by now, that's just everybody's initial fear these days.
 
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