Here Today... Gone To Hell!

 MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- A freeway bridge spanning the Mississippi River collapsed during evening rush hour Wednesday, sending many cars into the water.

Mark Lacroix photographed the bridge collapse from his apartment window.

Tons of concrete collapsed and there were injuries, authorities said. Survivors were being carried up the riverbank.

Some people were stranded on parts of the bridge that weren't completely submerged.

The entire span of the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed about 6:05 p.m. where the freeway crosses the river near University Avenue in Minneapolis.

Wow, terrifying !

Do they know why it collapsed ?

It's even worst than the couple of great white sharks off the cornwalls coast in england swimming near people..these photos the last 3 days are scary enough...

(http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070801/capt.8a5e952962c24f3090e74a4797919d0b.bridge_collapse_ny117.jpg?x=380&y=285&sig=5SfRaCN6cQvR0Aa6Df9xbw--)

Live video;
http://www.cnn.com/video/live/live.html?stream=stream3 (no audio)

This is so scary.  I've been over that bridge literally thousands of times.

My wife just talked to my mother-in-law on the phone.  She had gone over the bridge about 3 minutes before the collapse on her way home from work.


Scary.

I too have been over the bridge many times........unbelievable......I pray deaths are minimal.

God damn, she got lucky, 3 minutes later she'd have been fucked.

I've been over that bridge a few times myself...but damn. I'm just waitin' for the media to say Al-Queda was not a factor.

Must have been an angel.

 :hihi:

^I knew someone was goin' ta say that.

But fucking aye, imagine if you're on a crotch rocket doing about 75, and see that shit fall, and jump off. I'd say it's about 60 feet into the water, and hittin' the water hurts like fuck already...god damn.

MSNBC is saying its not terrorist related, but goddamn, there was some kind of MASSIVE failure there.

I knew I hated bridges  :nervous:

Well, it IS my mother-in-law, so let's not go crazy here.  I would chalk it up more to the deal she made with the devil a few years back.


Watching this on TV is nuts.  I just keep seeing stuff that is just insanely familiar to me.

indeed.  VERY peculiar.  don't they have regular tests on bridges and what not (or aren't they supposed to?)

HEY!  I just realized that my 1000th post was a joke about my mother-in-law!  Yippee for me!


As for the bridge inspections, they are saying that it was last inspected in 2004.

I heard May, or March of 2006 and there was a dozen or so stress cracks found...

Is there any pics of the bridge when it was standing.. I'd like to compare

This is the best pic I could find:

(http://www.mrdbridges.com/bridgesImagesMain/other-35W-griderwork.jpg)


There are a couple of more pics here, though:

http://www.mrdbridges.com/plymouth.php


Scroll down a bit to the Interstate 35 W bridge.

This place was about two blocks from my office.  I would take this bridge to and from work every day.

It is a horrible tragedy, I had to call all of my friends and family and make sure they were okay and likewise they had to call me.   Fortunately, noone I know was hurt, but this is right where I live.... right where I exist.  I am worried that all my favorite waitresses might have been hurt.

The crazy thing, is my brother is a civil engineer student at the U of Minnesota, and while he was there, they specifically brought up how horribly designed the 35W bridge is.  They knew it was gonna collapse...or at least, it was very feasible.

It's a tough thing for all of us in the area to deal with at the moment.  It's one of those shocking "how could it happen to us" moments.  Tomorrow, I have to find a way to get into work.... somehow....

I guess the city is coming up with alternate routes (detours) for getting in and out of the city...they said to check the city website as early in the morning as possible.

Thanks..  This is seriously the heart of where I live, I know this area better than I know the back of my hand.  It's incredibly saddening to see the bridge collapse like this.   Those of us around, we stood on the stone arch and mourned.

And I am quite stunned that apparently only seven people died.? That is a miracle.? That bridge has had construction work going on for a good month now, and at rush hour, when this happened, there are a good fifty+ vehicles on it, plus the construction.

I think it's 7 people so far...that number will definately go up.

I am sure it will.  My company just happened to have a softball game this evening.. which directed many of our employees the opposite direction on the 35W, that they normally would have been going at that time.  I can't even wrap my mind around the whole situation at the moment.

Holy Sheet!!!!!!That's seriously fucked up! :nervous:

You know the first thing , I thought of when I seen this was , hey Almost Famous don't live too far from there! Glad to see , you are OK AX!?:ok: You too Danny....didn't realize you also lived around there.? :) That Rock n' Roll guy that's on My GNR is also OK , he lives around Minneapolis.

Ridiclous... Hope everyone other than the 7 are ok... And to those 7 RIP...

Anyone knoe if others from this board are from that area??

Very unfortunate chain of events.  I have family up there so my thooughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

On a side note, the people of the Twin Cities can relax because our esteemed President said he will help get things in order.

www.Foxnews.com currently has a video up that shows the bridge coming down.  Incredible.

I love how the politicians used this event to get on camera.....makes me ill....the mayor and governor should say a few things, thats about it......senators klobachar and coleman need to shut their pieholes...

Yeah, my companys office is over that bridge too. I'm not too familer with that area though.

Bridge Collapse Probers Eye Man in Kayak

Associated Press
Wednesday, August 08, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS ?  Authorities investigating the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge are looking for a person who was in a kayak below or near the bridge when it tumbled into the Mississippi River last week, Minneapolis Police Capt. Mike Martin said Wednesday.

"We need to talk to that person," Martin said.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, one week after the collapse of the bridge during rush hour killed at least five people and injured 100, Martin also warned area residents to stay clear of the disaster site, where perimeter security has become a top concern.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292569,00.html

Edit:   A kayaker whom witnesses had reported seeing near the bridge just before it collapsed has contacted authorities, Minneapolis police Capt. Mike Martin said at a Thursday news conference.

The man heard investigators were looking for him and called the National Transportation Safety Board's bridge hot line, Martin said.

NTSB investigators would interview the kayaker about what he saw, Martin said.