I35W collapses into the Mississippi

[Vekseid]

I35W collapses into the Mississippi

A portion of the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed Wednesday sending many vehicles into the water.

Tons of concrete have collapsed and people are injured. Survivors are being carried up the riverbank.

Amelia Huffman, Minneapolis police spokeswoman, said that a portion of the bridge over the Mississippi River dropped into the water.

"It's unclear what caused it," Huffman said.

It's unclear how many people were injured.

Television reports show a flaming tractor trailer, cars overturned and jagged sections of road.

KSTP-TV showed an image of a school bus trapped on the collapsed bridge, and at least 20 more cars affected.

The Minnesota State Patrol said the first report of the collapse
came in at 6:09 p.m. tonight.

The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office is setting up casualty treatment areas and have put out calls for multiple backboards.

Interstate 35W southbound has been closed at Hwy. 280, according to the State Patrol.

The bridge, built in 1967, had both north and southbound lanes inspected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation in 2004, according to KSTP-TV.

Holy crap... glad I wasn't on it at the time.  Hope anyone who was is alright!

[NightBird]

The scariest thing is that it was a common design used in the interstate system. There are like eleven of them in NE Ohio.

Combining this with the water main issue in NYC really makes me wonder about how well infrastructure is being maintained in the US. *shakes head and sighs* No, honestly, not wonder. That's not the right word. It makes my skin crawl with how much skimping has been done in the spirit of 'good enough'.

[Elvi]

It's a common design used elsewhere too.
Several bridges in this country are being examined to check for the same type of faults...

[Swedish Steel]

We don't have a single one of those bridges here.  When they interviewed a professor of engineering he went as far as calling it a flawed design.

[National Acrobat]

We have 12 of those bridge designs here in Virginia, and they are all currently being examined.

Funny thing is that the citizens railed against tax increases to fund transportation, so no extra money in the general fund for road and transportation maintenance!

[Zakharra]

 There's probably enough money to fix/maintain them, if the politicians stopped doing the pork politics and put maintinace ahead of building new highways and bridges. Change their priorities.

[Idachan]

We don't have a single one of those bridges here.  When they interviewed a professor of engineering he went as far as calling it a flawed design.

True but didn't we have a bridge collapsing last year?

[Llianna]

Not too far from home!! It was very tragic.

[Swedish Steel]

True but didn't we have a bridge collapsing last year?

Yeah, but that was due to a mudslide, not a design flaw. The bridge and the road, all was flushed away.

[Vekseid]

We don't have a single one of those bridges here.  When they interviewed a professor of engineering he went as far as calling it a flawed design.

None have been built here for forty years, to my knowledge.  The Ohio bridge collapsed the same year the Minneapolis bridge finished.