Wow! Looks pretty bad. Bridge collapse.

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419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

Bridge collapse in Mississippi. Live on Sky News/Fox News now. Looks real bad Sad

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1278226,00.html

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:25 am

Not Mississippi, Minnesota. The bridge that collapsed links Minneapolis to St. Paul. Its confusing because the bridge spanned the Mississippi river.

419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

Ahhh... Blame Sky news for their strapline Smile

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:29 am

Looks like the whole thing went:
http://hotair.com/archives/2007/08/01/breaking-horrific-bridge-collapse-in-minneapolis/

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Quote:

A bridge has collapsed dramatically in Minneapolis

Yikes... that is in my neck of the woods.

*Turns on his TV and checks it out.**

edit: screwed up the "quote" code thingy

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Watching it live on my TV... 50 cars in the water. It looks bad.

Edit: Now reporting 20 construction workers that were on the bridge in the water.

Update: Thunderstorms moving into the area... Could it get any worse?

http://web.live.weatherbug.com/Radar/1/Radar.aspx?zcode=z4592&lid=NAV3

Update 2: News reporting 60 kids were on the school bus, only 1 injury (on the school bus).

Update 3: 3 fatalities confirmed. 8:09 CST

Update 4: The local news reporters are running out of things to talk about so they are exploring the terrorism angle. Another channel has a structural engineer on stating that it was clearly a structural failure, not terrorism. MnDot (Minnesota Dept of Transportation) states that the work being done on the bridge was not structural, just cosmetic.. filling pot holes et al. 8:24 CST

Update 5: 6 confirmed dead, 19 of the construction workers accounted for. 9:16 CST, DAMN! I have driven over that bridge thousands of times.

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:00 am

Wow that's pretty scary. Bridge was under repair apparently. Didn't fix it quick enough obviously.

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 1267

*post deleted by radden for the time being*

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 2301

Yep, Radden, make sure you make a political statement as quickly as possible. Rolling Eyes

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 1267

Nope, I'm in no way trying (at least from my stand point) trying to make this thread political. What I'm just saying is that people jump to conclusions too quickly.

This was very aweful, don't get me wrong, but we need to look at what went wrong, instead of instantly thinking of terrorism.

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:49 am

I'm afraid bridges do collapse from time to time so this terrible event would probably fall into the "Shit Happens" category rather than any kind of deliberate act. Anyway, it's not important right now. Let's hope the number of casualties isn't too high and that the emergency services aren't too hindered by working in such atrocious and difficult conditions Crying or Very sad

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 1267

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bridge.collapse/index.html

I think this link will be updated through the night

"Highway bridge falls into Mississippi River
A 40-year-old bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed Wednesday with about 50 vehicles on it. At least six people are dead, Mayor R.T. Rybak said. Local hospitals report at least 37 injured. full story"

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Update: 10:33 CST

The local media has degraded into speculation and dragging in some "experts" who have nothing more to add than more mindless babble. (along with endless loops of old video)

I agree with Gnasher, this was just a "shit happens" kind of thing.

As I explained it to my kids... "stuff breaks"

edit to add: Governor Tim Pawlenty (I have personally met him several times through work) gave a very good interview on TV. He stated the facts, without inducing panic, and didn't give the usual political bullshit. He is a Republican, I am a Democrat. With that said, I give him a huge nod of respect. Well done sir.

Edit: 7 confirmed dead. 20 missing and feared dead (in the river) 11:25 CST

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:40 pm

When I lived in south west CT, I used to drive on I- 95 past Greenwich. I was surprised to find out that a bridge on that interstate had collapsed a few years previously. A History channel documentary stated that the road network had been quickly planned, and just as quickly built. The film concentrated on how that collapse had led to improved monitoring of road bridges. Let's hope that this collapse is studied and that leads to improvements in design and monitoring of similar structures in the future.

This tragedy shows that people can't take things for granted. Also it reminds us that we are not that diiferent from other poorer parts of the world where these sorts of tragedies happen more often.

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:59 pm

There was a few sink holes appeared on I81 here in VA a few years back

Never anyhting like this I have seen before - i've seen a 10ft long bridge wash away before though in a flood

419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

Some video footage of the actual collapse has been released:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,30000-1278350,.html

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:06 pm

It is quite amazing to think only seven people lost their lives. Don't get me wrong: seven too many. Still, when you see the damage, it is a real miracle not more people were killed in the accident Shocked

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:02 pm

^^ I suspect that "seven" is the number of confirmed fatalities, and that the total will rise when they find the missing vehicles Sad

I heard that the bridge design was "unusual" - I suspect we might hear more about what that means in the coming days.

The most famous "bridge collapse caught on film" footage that I know of is the Tacoma Narrows bridge - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxTZ446tbzE
The torsion was caused by nothing more than wind. Fortunately, everyone got off that bridge well before it collapsed.

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:44 pm

I watched Faux News last night after I read this thread. They had a live interview with an 'expert' in a hotel room in Minneapolis, who only knew what he had seen on TV. He said 'It's pointless to speculate', so the anchor guy asked him 'What do you think caused this?'. Rolling Eyes

Interestingly, I heard a BBC interview with a guy who had been evacuated from his house almost under the approach to the bridge. He said that the 'cosmetic' roadworks that were going on involved hacking holes through the concrete, he could see daylight shining through when he looked up at the bridge. Shocked

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 10:23 pm

Just came back from the scene (I work less than a mile away). Being there drove home the reality more than any TV image. The ghastly smell of burnt rubber, other strange chemicals is still hanging in the air.

I had an interesting talk with a rower who used to turn-around right under those bridges. Since the bridge is just a few hundred yards downstream of the remnants of the St Anthony Falls, there are tremendous eddies and erosion around the supports on the riverbanks, particularly the West Bank. He said he's worried about that erosion for years. He was also concerned about a family who live under the bridge in an old tugboat, which we could not see. I pray they were downriver for a bit.

Still much recovery to be done, as the authorities still need to lower the river about a meter to make diving safe. Thank you for keeping the victims, their families, and the rescuers in your thoughts.

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 11:04 pm

dam

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