Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis (holy s**t related)

djkingottodjkingotto 1,704 Posts
edited August 2007 in Strut Central
BREAKING NEWSMSNBC staff and news service reportsUpdated: less than 1 minute agoMINNEAPOLIS - A busy highway bridge that spans the Mississippi River just northeast of Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour Wednesday, sending a school bus, other vehicles and tons of concrete crashing into the water.The entire span of the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed about 6:05 p.m. A tractor-trailer caught fire, and flame and black smoke billowed into the sky.Local television stations captured video of injured people being carried up the riverbank. There was no immediate word on injuries, but dozens of rescue vehicles were there. Divers were also in the water.Story continues below ↓--------------------------------------------------------------------------------advertisement--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Workers have been repairing the bridge surface as part of improvements along that stretch of the interstate, StarTribune.com reported. At least eight cars and a truck fell into the river. Some people were stranded on parts of the bridge that aren't completely in the water. Click for related content FirstPerson: Were you there? Send in your photos It was not clear how many people might be hurt or killed. NBC News reported that every Minneapolis ambulance has been requested to the scene. A tractor-trailer is on fire at the collapse scene.
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  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I hope this turns out not to be as bad as it looks. I guess at rush hour there wouldn't have been children on that school bus.

    Fingers crossed.

  • edith headedith head 5,106 Posts
    this is crazy



    an overpassed just collapsed yesterday near sacramento and the steel beams crushed a driver's truck but they cut him out of the truck ok

  • Just flew into MSP as this happened- I know that bridge area well. Looks like all the kids on that bus made it out, but many other travelers did not. It's a major commuting artery and this was rush hour -- normally bumper to bumper and road was down to two lanes due to construction. MPLS HOLD ON

  • I'm OK as are all my friends I've talked to. Shit is so crazy right now.
















  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
    yeah, my friend from st. paul just told me about this, hes freaking out. he was thinking about going to minneapolis today via that bridge. insane shit. google news says there were 3 fatalties.

  • This is the bridge I take to work every single day.

  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
    This is the bridge I take to work every single day.

    i think he takes it to his job daily as well. hes pretty blown away by all this...

  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    America does not spend enough money on things that matter, like infrastructure and its own people/services.
    Best wishes to people in MPLS

  • America does not spend enough money on things that matter, like infrastructure and its own people/services.
    Best wishes to people in MPLS

    These are the things that taxes pay for.

    Agreed on both counts- best wishes to the Twin Cities. Hope your loved one are safe, and your lives day to day lives aren't supremely fucked up. (i'm a commuter too...shit like that would ruin many days.)

  • djstefdjstef 534 Posts
    As soon a I heard I checked in here to see if you were ok, Mike.

    OH MY GOD.

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Any sightings of...


  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    Any sightings of...


    Don't fucks with the Mothman

  • Damn, that is some scary schitt


  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    Any sightings of...


    That was my second thought after Mike.

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    I didn't mean to be too glib with the Mothman image - I didn't realize the extent of injury at that point.

    I'm looking at some of the NY Times pics of the collapse and it is unfuckingbelievable. I'm not structural engineer but the failure of the bridge integrity is astonishing.

  • There'd been a 3 - 5 mile-long stretch of I-35W (I-35 splits into 35W running North and South through Minneapolis and 35E running North and South through St Paul) which had been under construction ever since Summer started (the joke is that there are two seasons in Minneaplis - winter and road construction). As this is my daily route from home to our office, I'd been watching the construction progress, especially over the bridge segment which collapsed and been seeing it get pretty gnarly looking recently. Ironically enough, it was just today that I saw it and thought "Man, it's starting to really shape up."

    I have other ways to get to work and around the city and will be getting a bike soon, so this doesn't affect me too much, but it is still incredibly shocking and horrific. The death toll is up to seven and dozens have been injured, including my friend Julie, who I believe was on the bus which fell. I've been trying to get details, but it's been tough to find out.

    A huge thank you to all of you who called and sent messages to check up. Really means alot. Yall are my peoples.

    Mike

  • P.S. I had a DJ gig just five blocks from where the bridge fell less than 3 hours after it happened. It felt really really awkward and comfortable trying to get people to dance in light of all this, but people seemed to want to get out of the house and get sidetracked.

    And yes, the first song I played was MC Shan "The Bridge."

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    P.S. I had a DJ gig just five blocks from where the bridge fell less than 3 hours after it happened. It felt really really awkward and comfortable trying to get people to dance in light of all this, but people seemed to want to get out of the house and get sidetracked.

    And yes, the first song I played was MC Shan "The Bridge."

  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    This is the bridge I take to work every single day.

    I used to drive it daily as well....fucked up.

  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    Seems that the kids are alright, some went to the hospital but they all got out of the bus. Hopefully there is more good news like this about others on the bridge.


    Last week we went over bridge after bridge - a lot of them over water as wellas that 12 mile one at Chesapeake - I even said to Man how nervous it made me. Horrifying.

  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    Seems that the kids are alright, some went to the hospital but they all got out of the bus. Hopefully there is more good news like this about others on the bridge.

    The amount of construction going on no doubt spared a lot of lives and injury. As horrible as it is, it is looking like it could have been so much worse given the timing of the collapse. I still can't believe it's Minneapolis!

  • The amount of construction going on no doubt spared a lot of lives and injury. As horrible as it is, it is looking like it could have been so much worse given the timing of the collapse.

    Thats been the general consensus amongst my friends & fam... a lot of people I know would have been using this bridge if it were not summer, and if it were not under construction. As far as I know, only one friend of mine was on 35 at the time, about a half mile from the bridge when it dropped. My girl was crossing the Washington pedestrian bridge on bike minutes after it happened - the smoke/dust and general scene shook her pretty bad. I shudder to think what it would have been like if this happened in January or February.

    Glad to hear you other twin city strutters are alright.

    The Stax documentary on PBS last night was a welcome diversion from the constant barrage of news-not-news.

  • CousinLarryCousinLarry 4,618 Posts

    Last week we went over bridge after bridge - a lot of them over water as wellas that 12 mile one at Chesapeake - I even said to Man how nervous it made me. Horrifying.


    How was your trip?

    My wife and I take 301 from Richmond to Philly pretty often and got stuck at the bay bridge for 4 hours do to a serious accident on the bridge. What sucks is there is no other way around you are just stuck unless you want to drive three more hours out of the way.

  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts

    Last week we went over bridge after bridge - a lot of them over water as wellas that 12 mile one at Chesapeake - I even said to Man how nervous it made me. Horrifying.


    How was your trip?


    Nine states in six days!! Sadly, never made it to Lynchburg or Richmond to visit Strutters. A bit of swimming, a lot of driving, some records, breath-taking Appalachians and we saw lots and lots of deer frolicking in the hills. Thanks for asking!

  • My heart goes out to friends and family in MN.

    Mike, did you play "The Bridge Is Over"?

  • Mike, did you play "The Bridge Is Over"?

    The overly-conceptual DJ in me just couldn't resist.

  • JustAliceJustAlice 1,308 Posts
    Mike, Im glad your ok. I hope your friends and family are safe as well.

    This is crazy. Portland has so many bridges its going to be hard not to think about it everytime I cross one for awhile. Ive always been extra paranoid of the Fremont Bridge, that thing is a monster...plus my california earthquake paranoia kicks in automatically too. The burnside has been under construction for like two years, very scary.

    Its pretty surreal.



  • edith headedith head 5,106 Posts

    Mike, did you play "The Bridge Is Over"?

    actually, when i texted mike he had just put on DM "enjoy the silence"


  • Mike, did you play "The Bridge Is Over"?

    actually, when i texted mike he had just put on DM "enjoy the silence"

    But to make up for it, I followed it up with Land of Confusion.

    Alice - Fremont Bridge always seemed super safe to me. The one that always freaked me out was the metal enclosed one which felt like driving through a cage. Burnside or Hawthorne.

    The time lapse video of the actual collapse is unbelievable. That just about the entire thing fell as one solid piece is just amazing.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts

    Mike, did you play "The Bridge Is Over"?

    actually, when i texted mike he had just put on DM "enjoy the silence"

    But to make up for it, I followed it up with Land of Confusion.

    Alice - Fremont Bridge always seemed super safe to me. The one that always freaked me out was the metal enclosed one which felt like driving through a cage. Burnside or Hawthorne.

    The time lapse video of the actual collapse is unbelievable. That just about the entire thing fell as one solid piece is just amazing.

    Mike I'm so gald you are doing well and your spirits are up and you are keeping on. I guess playing last night was a way to express some of what you were feeling and to feel close to your community.

    I heard this was a 450 foot unsupported span. Engineers are going to be looking at a lot of bridges. Portland does not have anything like that. Hawthorne is the cage, Steel Bridge is also a cage, very old, and privatly owned and maintained. They are redoing the repairs they just did to the Burnside. St Johns and Ross Island and Sellwood are not up to handling the traffic that goes over them and pieces keep falling off of them. Freemont Bridge or Marquam Bridge + earthquack will be very ugly.

    Alice: the Iraq Names Project is in your neighborhood, turn out and chalk sometime.
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