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I-35 Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis
- Thread starter WildCowboy
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I was in the area when this took place. It was chaotic. Pedestrians were all over the place. Cars were bumper to bumper, and emergency vehicles were going both ways constantly. The bridge is simply gone.
What horrible news, watching the coverage on CNN right now. I always have a fear of something like that happening.
Another reason to live life every day like it is your last.
Another reason to live life every day like it is your last.
No, I don't think so.
I just hate when everytime something blows up or collapses, it has to be "a terrorist attack"
They were doing resurfacing and joint work. Just the deck joints though; nonstructural. I drove over the bridge several times during the construction and nothing structural was being done. I find this whole thing to be quite shocking. I'm currently a civil engineering student and I've taken many structural classes. I can only guess from my limited experience something fatigue related, plus these old bridges are determinate structures so they don't have as much redundancy as newer designs. Many have suggested overload, but that is next to impossible. These bridges (especially older) are able to carry much, much more weight than what was on it at the time with very little strain.
I've been watching the various local news channels since it happened.
I live about a half a mile from the bridge right near the University of MN campus. My roommate was just over by the area. He said seeing it in person is surreal. The response was amazing, there were average citizens directing traffic and keeping things in order. Rescue efforts have mostly been stopped for the night. Cars under water are the main concern and diving is too dangerous right now. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone.
This is a major blow to the transportation infrastructure of Minneapolis. Travel is going to be very difficult as there aren't roads of similar capacity available for rerouting and 35W was at max capacity. If you are from Minneapolis I encourage you to take public transportation tomorrow, metro transit is adding many additional buses and stationing people at park and ride stations to help new riders.
This is just a devastating accident for the metro area and again my thoughts are with everyone involved.
This made it worse. Some of these intersections had two and three people trying to direct traffic. Just along University Av, one person waves the opposite of the other "director" at the same intersection.
There were a lot of people, and a lot of emergency response movement. It was chaotic.
Well bridges aren't supposed to just have catastrophic collapses...
and things don't usually just 'blow up'.
It seems like a huge collapse to not have a real cause, being that it was inspected 3 years ago. Even if the bridge was designed to depend on its elements for support, these kinds of massive catastrophes are so rare it's hard not to want to suspect some sort of foul play.
I don't think it made it any worse that it would have been without it and people felt they needed to do something to help. It is going to be chaos no matter what trying to redirect I35 onto University Av.
I think a lot of people thought that because we have pretty much been trained by the media to associate any disaster with potential 'terrorism'.
I agree... I sometimes think that this makes things worse. On top of that, the media is basically "brain-wahing" us with the horrible pictures of events. It's because of those, we tune in for hours and hours on end... My thoughts still going out!
I agree with you, although in this case, because the bridge had passed inspections in 2005 and 2006, I think assumption of foul play of some kind (not necessarily terrorism) is a little more understandable than many others.
When I was little, I always got a little nervous on that bridge because it was fragile-looking from below, and it took so long to cross it compared with any other bridges I'd ever been on. But even as a kid, I knew that it was just an irrational fear; modern bridges wouldn't ever just "break"...
This truly is a disaster, but after watching the footage, it seems a miracle so many people that were on the bridge when it collapsed have been rescued.
Quite horrific, like something out of a film as another poster said. I suppose in a country the size of the US this sort of thing is going to happen occasionally, but that doesn't make it any better when it does.
Puts your own troubles into perspective a bit though doesn't it?
Puts your own troubles into perspective a bit though doesn't it?
Oh god, this is horrible. I'm in Toronto, and I think of the chaos and devastation if the Gardiner collapsed--and it is constantly under repairs.
I Google Earth'd the area to see what it had once looked like, and was momentarily disturbed by the simplified terrain view.
Thanks for the local news link. I'd rather hear updates from those in the community.
I Google Earth'd the area to see what it had once looked like, and was momentarily disturbed by the simplified terrain view.
Thanks for the local news link. I'd rather hear updates from those in the community.
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Yes, as sad as it is, I believe in many cases this is true. With all the cost cutting measures businesses take to get more done with fewer resources so that the bottom line looks good and they make more profit, quality often suffers. It may be simplifying it too much, but "follow the money".
CNN has a video of the collapse. I feel fortunate to know that those I care about weren't near the bridge at the time. It's really so crazy to think about how many times I've travelled over it and never gave it a second thought or that it was second nature. I'm still trying to believe/understand how something like this could happen out of nowhere. Craziness.
I believe the one great thing to come out of this was the level of organization and preparedness of the Red Cross, police, fire department, hospital/emergency employees and other first responders. In my opinion, they've really handled the situation with brilliance.
I believe the one great thing to come out of this was the level of organization and preparedness of the Red Cross, police, fire department, hospital/emergency employees and other first responders. In my opinion, they've really handled the situation with brilliance.
Not to take anything away from the Red Cross... but had their response time been any thing greater than 30 seconds, we should all be very concerned.
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I think we have to mention the civilian volunteers as well; many people came from nearby homes to help pull people out of the river as well. They just interviewed a resident that they say pulled 12 survivors out of the river, and many people have stories similar to hers.
What I hate about this is that there seems to be a media competition.. in which one can present this news 'better'. I've seen countless front pages.. splashed with graphics of the minneapolis background and "BRIDGE C O L L A P S E" as though they tried to make it a movie title.
It seriously looks as though they try to make this a sneak peek of an upcoming blockbuster.. it's sickening. Why not stick to a simple presentation of the tragedy, instead of trying to glamorize it?
It seriously looks as though they try to make this a sneak peek of an upcoming blockbuster.. it's sickening. Why not stick to a simple presentation of the tragedy, instead of trying to glamorize it?
Of course - having lost a friend in Bombay in a building collapse.. I absolutely believe this reprehensible fact that companies give an a$$ about safety or quality. It's all about the profits. You see this happening everywhere - from the food industry, health, airline and transportation, the list goes on..
The 'new' buildings in bombay.. (15 years old on average) crumble every time there is some construction work.. or heavy rainfall. My grandma's 120 year old building (made of stone during the British rule) is still standing strong!
Makes you wonder about being at the wrong place, at the wrong time. When my friend died in a office building collapse.. she had just gone there for a few minutes to collect a fax.. a fax!
Good point
First, I am deeply sorry and send my prayers to all involved.
That is a very good point. The media exaggerates some risks and minimizes others. We have a crumbling infrastructure in this country. There were a handful of stories about the problem years ago. Some are connecting the dots: Katrina Levy, tunnel in Boston, N.Y pipe explosion, and another bridge fell in California a few days ago (thankfully less tragic than MN). Our bridges, roads, etc are deteriorating all over the country. The American Society of Civil Engineers says $1.6 billion is needed over the next 5 years to make the repairs, the AFL-CIO estimates 1 in 4 roads are in bad shape. Hopefully, our spending priorities will change so future tragedies can be avoided!
First, I am deeply sorry and send my prayers to all involved.
That is a very good point. The media exaggerates some risks and minimizes others. We have a crumbling infrastructure in this country. There were a handful of stories about the problem years ago. Some are connecting the dots: Katrina Levy, tunnel in Boston, N.Y pipe explosion, and another bridge fell in California a few days ago (thankfully less tragic than MN). Our bridges, roads, etc are deteriorating all over the country. The American Society of Civil Engineers says $1.6 billion is needed over the next 5 years to make the repairs, the AFL-CIO estimates 1 in 4 roads are in bad shape. Hopefully, our spending priorities will change so future tragedies can be avoided!