OT checking in from MN

[Young Ed]

As you guys are probably seeing on TV there was a major accident here in minneapolis. The 35w bridge over the mississippi has colapsed. This is probably the biggest and most used car bridge in the whole twin cities. I've crossed it more times then I could count. It was about 8 lanes wide between both directions. So far only 1 confirmed death. Keep us in your thoughts.

[Allan Faust]

I hadn't heard about it yet, but I'm glad ur ok.....

Allan

[Plymouthy Adams]

Margaret called this evening (second wife) she used to travesrse that bridge quite frequent..any explanations on the why and wehrefore yet? Sal has been watching that show on the tube..TAPS (Terrible Actors Persusing Spectres)

[Young Ed]

No word yet on the cause. Bridge was under constuction but it was decking only. No structural work. They are saying no indication of terrorism. I'm sure it will be awhile before anything official is known or announced.

[steveplym]

Wow. Just turned on the newschannels. Crazy stuff.

Need to pray for the victims and their families.

Just another reminder of how short life really is, and anything can happen.

[Young Ed]

True story there. Dad and I and one of his friends had just crossed the broadway bridge over the mississippi. We went to eat at a restaurant just on the other side of the river. Right as we parked we saw 2 police cars hauling major a$$ towards something. Didn't know it was this until we sat down to eat and it hit the news. Every channel and every eye in the bar was on the tvs.

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed, Glad to hear you weren't on that bridge. I just heard about it about 10 minutes ago. That road has some heavy traffic during rush hour. Use to spend a week at a time working with the guys in our St. Paul office and stayed in a hotel out in Burnsville, just off I 35 and the bypass. So, I've been on that bridge many times too.

A lot of our infrastructure is old today and even some of the new isn't the best quality either. They had a similar thing happen on a bridge across the Mississippi someplace in Iowa/IL or MO/IL in the 90's. No one was hurt in that one though. We also had a fairly new bridge buckle going over the Milwaukee harbor a few years ago. That one didn't collapse completely though. People who drove over it reported it by cell phone and they closed it right away. In the Milwaukee bridge case I believe they said it was a problem with the steel not being the right strength on that section. In your case though, it's probably because the bridge is just old. They said it was built in 1967 on TV.

[Young Ed]

They said 140K cars cross daily. Scary. Don't think 40 years is considered that old for a bridge. Obviously something was wrong with this one though

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed, you are right. 1967 is really not that old for a bridge. However, we have to keep in mind what the traffic was like in 1967, compared to today. Back then the population was only about half what it is today. Plus, most people back then only had one family car instead of two or three today. There was also a lot less trucks on the road because most freight went by rail instead of truck like it is today. That means double the traffic on our bridges and roads. So, maybe the bridges were safe for the time they were built, but now they get a lot more use and probably need to be rebuilt to higher standards for the amount of traffic they see.

Ever get caught in a traffic jam in Chicago where the Dan Ryan and the Kennedy meet on the south side of the loop? Sometimes the car will be bouncing so much while you are sitting still on that bridge, that it feels like you are on a reducing machine, it flexes so much.

[55 Fargo]

Glad your okay Ed, we had a major overpass in Montreal collapse last year killing 3 people. The bridge was past overdue for repairs and was declared safe by an inspector, and right after that it collapsed, killing the people driving under it.Our deepest sympathy are with the victims families, lets hope the casualties are low...........Fred

[Young Ed]

So far 7 dead they are saying. Very lucky its that low. They are saying 50 cars were on the bridge. One was a school bus with a lot of kids on it. Can only begin to imagine the impact this will have on our town for years and years to come.

[DAVE KNOXX TENN]

As you guys are probably seeing on TV there was a major accident here in minneapolis. The 35w bridge over the mississippi has colapsed. This is probably the biggest and most used car bridge in the whole twin cities. I've crossed it more times then I could count. It was about 8 lanes wide between both directions. So far only 1 confirmed death. Keep us in your thoughts.

Our Heart goes To all .CONNIE DAVE AND FAMILY!!!!!!!!!

[eric wissing]

Ed, I crossed that bridge on the 26th of June. I hadn't really noticed any construction there but almost bought it a few miles later with the construction in Minneapolis. I notice here and elsewhere that people do not slow down even when construction signs are posted. Especially if it past work hours. There still will be narrowing of lanes and quick lane changes. I was doing 50 and people were flying past me and suddenly everything came to a suden standstill and I was bracing myself as I heard the squeals of tires behind me. Of course the guy behind me was angry with me for some reason. I guess I was suppose to crash into the cars ahead to give him more time.

You never know when your number comes up I guess. I can olnly imagine what families are think who can't get in touch with eachother right now. Eric

[BobT-47P15]

Man.....what a deal. Looks like maybe the tractor unit of a tractor-trailer caught fire. Next to it was a school bus.....hopefully empty......per pics on

MSN. Glad you are ok Ed. Several vehicles perched very precariously on various segments.

[Normspeed]

Awful disaster. It's all over the news here too. So far it sounds like most people survived. I sure hope so.

[Allan Faust]

Glad your okay Ed, we had a major overpass in Montreal collapse last year killing 3 people. The bridge was past overdue for repairs and was declared safe by an inspector, and right after that it collapsed, killing the people driving under it.Our deepest sympathy are with the victims families, lets hope the casualties are low...........Fred

Yep, and ever since they've been inspecting every bridge and overpass..... over 50 are now off limits to haulers..... sometimes giving them 2-3 hr detours......

Allan

[Don Coatney]

Ed;

Glad you and yours are well. The words have not yet been invented to console the families of those not so fortunate.

[Young Ed]

Bob by the time those pictures were being taken that bus was empty but it was full of kids during the accident. They were all evacuated safely.

[Merle Coggins]

Just heard on the radio news this morning that they found out that that bridge had been put on a list of bridges in serious need of structural repair a couple of years ago. This was apparently on the national Bridge Inspection Inventory register (or something like that)

Sounds like it was a disaster waiting to happen. Too bad it takes something like this to wake up the people in charge.

Glad you escaped it, Ed. Has anyone heard from Dennis? He's in that area too, yes?

Merle

[1just4don]

Thats what Matt Lauer had to say this morning anyway. 60 kids were on that bus,,,must have been a full load. from 4 years old to 14. Coming back from___(I forgot) (Bible camp or adventure trip, something like that). All safely evacuated out the back door since the fold main door was parked against the railing. It said some kids had 'minor' injuries!! A miracle for sure.

Now they say there are ONLY 4 confirmed dead. BUT 20 still missing, and feared dead. Many critically wounded so they 'think' death count could be around 30 before its all done!! Amazing that "anybody" got out of that mess alive!!

Sadly--just don--

[1just4don]

I would imagine MOST of the missing were pedestrians walking across the bridge. How fast is the current and how far would they be swept downstream by now and a few days later??

They say to get out of a submerged car you HAVE to have a special type hammer in a special accessible plce you can always reach, no matter what. Say in a side pocket in the door,it disappears on a roll over IF your submerged in water you cant swing it fast enough thru the water.

I dont LIKE automatic door locks and electric windows for this exact same reason!! I think our older cars were safer from that standpoint,,could always roll the window down with crank unless too far bent,,,and thats not as likely. could always reach the button to pull up and possibly open the door also. As well as a rescue worker could generally open the door from the outside!! BUT if you were knocked out from no seat belts and bags,didnt matter. But most werent.

[Plymouthy Adams]

A very small hand held spring loaded center punch, less than 5.00 at Harbor Freight will shatter a tempered glass like nobody's business...at least ways the cops told me this is good to carry for that purpose.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91080

[Norm's Coupe]

I would imagine MOST of the missing were pedestrians walking across the bridge. How fast is the current and how far would they be swept downstream by now and a few days later??

They say to get out of a submerged car you HAVE to have a special type hammer in a special accessible plce you can always reach, no matter what. Say in a side pocket in the door,it disappears on a roll over IF your submerged in water you cant swing it fast enough thru the water.

I dont LIKE automatic door locks and electric windows for this exact same reason!! I think our older cars were safer from that standpoint,,could always roll the window down with crank unless too far bent,,,and thats not as likely. could always reach the button to pull up and possibly open the door also. As well as a rescue worker could generally open the door from the outside!! BUT if you were knocked out from no seat belts and bags,didnt matter. But most werent.

Don,

There should not have been anyone walking on that bridge. It's a bridge on I 35W Interstate Freeway. However, news reports said the construction crew was working on the bridge at the time. A few of them did go into the river, and the others rode the bridge down as it fell. Last I heard 7 people were killed altogether and many injured. Don't know what the count is now. Hopefully, that's it.

I also heard on last nights news that when the bridge was last inspected by federal inspectors, they reported it as needing structural repairs. Think that was reported in 2003 and 2006. Evidently work did not start on the bridge until recently though. I'll bet someone's head gets chopped off on this one.

[eric wissing]

The work being done to the bridge was not structural just resurfacing. They had schedule the bridge to be "structurally" repaired in like 2020. I flipped back and forth from CNN, MSNBC and Fox last night. A lot of nise and speculation as always early on. The idiot on Fox was looking for blame on response time and for anything he could think of. The dust hasn't even settled yet. Engineers will have to go through a lot of steel to determine what happened. The Gov. of Minn. just a day or so ago vetoed a spending bill for road work. I guess there is matching funds from the Feds. Interesting aruguments about Privatization of roads. For years there have been reports about the country's poor bridges and infrastructure. I heard a trucker on the radio say "there are two seasons for truckers: Wintewr and Road Construction". Eric