[colonelkernel8]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bri...pse/index.html

Man, good thing my sis doesn't take that route to school.

Was tragic enough to cancel tomorrow's Twins game...

Condolences to those who had family involved.

Was anyone near enough to see it at all? I know there aren't too many Minnesotans on the forums here.

 

[nfusion770]

2000 feet of bridge collapsed approximately half in the river and half on land. 6 dead, 30 are injured so far, but there are reports of 50 cars involved and a bus with 60 students (I think I just heard the students are safe). This could be pretty ugly. My brother lives pretty close by, but he is safe as is the rest of my immediate family. Very sad and my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved.

 

[mcmyers]

Just crazy. My thoughts and prayers go out as well.

 

[nickknutson]

That is a major artery for the cities...very tragic.

 

[colonelkernel8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickknutson /img/forum/go_quote.gif That is a major artery for the cities...very tragic.

Had my parents gone to the Twins game tonight, they would have been on the bridge around the time of its collapse. Close call, luckily, our season tickets did not include tonight's game.

 

[derekbmn]

Very upsetting

. Hope all fellow Minnesotan Head-Fiers are safe and sound.

 

[Voltron]

My sister used that bridge daily but she was not there tonight, thank God. I know her kids were not involved and don't believe any of her in-laws large family either. Condolences to any Head-Fiers who were sadly closer to this tragic event.

 

[purk]

Very sad news. As a structural engineer, this kind of failure is such a tragic event. I read some where that the caused of the bridge failure was the a "fatique failute" of the primary support truss member.

 

[analogbox]

It's very sad and tragic indeed. It made me stop in awe when I was flipping through the news channels. Just imagine the horror survivors must've went through when the bridge was collapsing. As for the deads, my condolence goes to their families.

 

[3x331m]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purk /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read some where that the caused of the bridge failure was the a "fatique failute" of the primary support truss member.

How can these still exist in our modern designs ?

 

[Duggeh]

A terrible accident, however my imagination posits that it could have been far worse than it was if the traffic had been heavy.

 

[MetalManCPA]

Unbelievable. You hear stories all of the time of the disrepair of bridges and highways in the US. This bridge was opoened in the late 1960's. I can't believe only the extra weight of the resurfacing going on was enough to buckle/collapse the bridge.

I just hope those who were hurt recover, and condolences to the families who lost loved ones.

 

[BPRJam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif A terrible accident, however my imagination posits that it could have been far worse than it was if the traffic had been heavy.

Comparatively speaking, the traffic was heavy. It was around 6:00PM, which is about as heavy as traffic gets on that bridge. The "good" news is that the bridge was undergoing some resurfacing, and so it was reduced to two lanes in each direction. This drastically diminished the amount of cars that could be on the bridge. Now, of course, people are wondering if the resurfacing caused the bridge to collapse.

I travel over that bridge at least 4 times a week, and live about 5 miles from it. Luckily, no one I know was hurt. This is a major, major deal for Minneapolis, since this bridge is the largest artery into the city.

BPRJam

 

[laxx]

A friend of mine drove over that bridge about 30 minutes to an hour prior to it's collapse. Pretty scary.

 

[mercbuggy]

I lived in the Twin cities for a couple of years and hope that friends there are OK. Used that bridge many times myself. It seems that it was flagged up in a previous safety report in 2005. It would be terrible if negligence or 'keep the bridge open because it would cost to much to close it for repair' turn out to be the cause.

My thoughts are with MN today.