Interstate bridge collapses in Minneapolis

[trevor13478 1]

Anybody else see this, 8 lane highway over the Mississippi river colapsed durring rush hour. CNN says 50 cars in the river and 3 confirmed dead. flip to CNN right now for more info...

[Bleeding Blue Note 0]

I actually just moved back home from the Twin Cities area. I've been across that bridge many times, so it's super surreal right now...

[Lufria 1]

My gf mentioned it and she thought it was from 24 or something. i know abcnews has it listed as "not a terrorist threat."

[krisrt4tin 0]

Reports of a couple school buses too. It'll be interesting once they figure out the cause.

[hockeyplaya97 0]

Nancy Drew said construction.

But I hate Nancy Drew.

[Jarick 5]

Absolutely crazy...that's the bridge that's in the heart of Minneapolis. Just surreal. Used to live just on the other side of that bridge when I was going to the U of M...

Twin Cities traffic just went from bad to worse. Unfortunately this summer they decided to start construction a few miles south of the bridge so it's going to be almost impossible to get that flow of traffic regulated...

[forbs02 20]

Absolutely crazy...that's the bridge that's in the heart of Minneapolis. Just surreal. Used to live just on the other side of that bridge when I was going to the U of M...

Twin Cities traffic just went from bad to worse. Unfortunately this summer they decided to start construction a few miles south of the bridge so it's going to be almost impossible to get that flow of traffic regulated...

That construction is going to end up being a blessing in disguise...a lot of people (myself included) have altered their routes so they don't have to take that bridge home. That definately reduced the amount of traffic on the bridge at the time of collapse. Everything is surreal right now, everyone here in the cities is very somber.

[badsk8ter 0]

Forbs, glad to see you post (means you're OK). I'm still waiting to hear from some friends up there. I guess no news is good news though.

[Oberon 0]

Jesus, what a night. To make matters worse, both cell and landline phone systems were overloaded - making it very difficult to track down friends and family. I have a lot of both who are on that bridge every day.

[Jbone 0]

A video can be found here...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nation...-home-headlines

[Nutella 0]

I have driven on that bridge so many times, and there are a few like that in St. Cloud. It's scary to think that things like that happen.

What struck me as odd is that the first thing people were worrying about was if it was terrorism.

Prayers go out to the families that suffered from this.

That, and I have to go the Cities soon. I can't imagine the traffic.

[TCsnipes9 0]

Unreal. Like some have said, its hard to believe something like that just happens. I heard on the news that day in, day out, nearly 100,000 cars cross that bridge.

Thoughs go out to those suffering from this....

[Ngo_35 1]

I have driven on that bridge so many times, and there are a few like that in St. Cloud. It's scary to think that things like that happen.

What struck me as odd is that the first thing people were worrying about was if it was terrorism.

Prayers go out to the families that suffered from this.

That, and I have to go the Cities soon. I can't imagine the traffic.

Yeah I find it odd too that people always assume when something happens its terrorism. Is it that instilled into American society? I mean if a kid falls do people say a terrorist put a stick on the sidewalk causing him to fall? It's getting a bit far with this terrorist stuff. No one says "shit happens" anymore, its always some type of evil behind it.

And how come this bridge collapsing is making such a big deal in the news? I dont want to sound like a prick, I know its sad that people die but it wasnt like it was a huge death toll. More people die of accidents and I'm sure shootings in the States but that rarely makes the news from what im told. I guess its just good tv?

[forbs02 20]

I have driven on that bridge so many times, and there are a few like that in St. Cloud. It's scary to think that things like that happen.

What struck me as odd is that the first thing people were worrying about was if it was terrorism.

Prayers go out to the families that suffered from this.

That, and I have to go the Cities soon. I can't imagine the traffic.

Yeah I find it odd too that people always assume when something happens its terrorism. Is it that instilled into American society? I mean if a kid falls do people say a terrorist put a stick on the sidewalk causing him to fall? It's getting a bit far with this terrorist stuff. No one says "shit happens" anymore, its always some type of evil behind it.

And how come this bridge collapsing is making such a big deal in the news? I dont want to sound like a prick, I know its sad that people die but it wasnt like it was a huge death toll. More people die of accidents and I'm sure shootings in the States but that rarely makes the news from what im told. I guess its just good tv?

It's such a big deal because it is a big deal. This is something that could have happened in any big city in the world. How many times a day do you drive over a bridge? Imagine sitting in bumper to bumper traffic and just having it drop out from under you. Millions of people commute everyday and this hits close to home. It also brings up a funding debate regarding highways and road repairs. People in America constantly complain about taxes and how they don't want increases. This is just an example of what can possible happen when there is a lack of public funding. I know that the cause of this bridge collapse is unknown, but it will probably end up being a preventable structural issue.

It's also a big deal because this bridge is a MAJOR thoroughfare for the Twin Cities. Over 150,000 cars were crossing this bridge a day. Pick a major bridge in you city and make it just disappear. That is what is happening right now. I'm aware that people die in accidents and stuff all the time and it doesn't make national news. This is different because it isn't violence from other people, its just something that happened. I know that the current death toll from this isn't very high yet (one death is too many though) so it doesn't seem like it was that big of deal to people on the outside looking in, but many people walked away from this thing. It could have been much worse.

[D-MaN88 0]

News reports are saying problems with the bridge were known and have been neglected since discovered in 1990. I didn't hear what the reasons were why they hadn't done anything about the possible chance of this happening but my guess would be the lack of public funding.

A couple articles I have read in the past couple days have said that over 70,000 bridges across the nation (major and minor) are in the same or worse condition than the bridge in Minneapolis. The thing is, what is going to happen, are states going to start taking things more seriously or are they just going to raise taxes again for whatever?...

In my opinion bridges are a serious concern not only for public safety which is #1 priority but also for the economy. If people can't drive and get to jobs and or shops then communities and cities and states lose money.

But in response to the original post and events that happened in Minneapolis what a horrible sight to see and tragic event and in return all those affected by this tragedy are in my thoughts and prayers.

[sabre09923 0]

Part of the terrorist discussion pops up with some American Elitists, who think that the only way a disaster can happen in the US is when someone else screws up -- or someone wants to bring us down (a la terrorists). They don't accept that mistakes happen. The other (quite stupid) reason that other people bring up is that it's an 'act of god', since He wants vengeance on us for the Iraq War, gay marriage, abortions, or any number of things (if you're a hardcore conservative).

We should be accepting that these sort of mistakes do happen, and be glad that the loss of life was minimal. Backed-up traffic isn't anything compared to loss of life, and that's why we should have road repairs more frequently. Sitting in your car for an extra 40 minutes on your commute isn't nearly as bad as having a bridge fall out from under you and risk losing your life.

Stop spending on the war and start spending on bridges. Protect your own people, first. Then help another nation.

[Ngo_35 1]

ahh Forbs I see your point. I didnt know it was part of a big city, from the looks of it I thought it was like small-medium city. Pardon my geographical ignorance.

[Jarick 5]

Interesting thing I found, Minnesota only spends 0.7% of the budget on transportation, including roads and mass transit.

Nobody I knew thought anything about terrorism. A lot of people are looking for someone or something to blame, but most are just concerned with the people involved and how it affects traffic.

Several people I've talked to were just one or two people removed from someone who died or is missing. Amazing how small this metro area is.

[Oberon 0]

ahh Forbs I see your point. I didnt know it was part of a big city, from the looks of it I thought it was like small-medium city. Pardon my geographical ignorance.

Not huge, but the twin cities metro area is home to about 3 million people. The bridge in question had the highest daily traffic volume of any bridge in the state of Minnesota, which as forbs02 mentioned was about 150,000 vehicles/day.

[badsk8ter 0]

News reports are saying problems with the bridge were known and have been neglected since discovered in 1990. I didn't hear what the reasons were why they hadn't done anything about the possible chance of this happening but my guess would be the lack of public funding.

A couple articles I have read in the past couple days have said that over 70,000 bridges across the nation (major and minor) are in the same or worse condition than the bridge in Minneapolis. The thing is, what is going to happen, are states going to start taking things more seriously or are they just going to raise taxes again for whatever?...

In my opinion bridges are a serious concern not only for public safety which is #1 priority but also for the economy. If people can't drive and get to jobs and or shops then communities and cities and states lose money.

But in response to the original post and events that happened in Minneapolis what a horrible sight to see and tragic event and in return all those affected by this tragedy are in my thoughts and prayers.

Locally here, it has brought up alot of discussion on the news about the condition of the bridges in Iowa and Nebraska and how many are below the standards and in need of repair. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a tragedy

to bring enough attention to spend the time and money on repairing our basic infrastructure (kind of like N'Orleans, though that's discussion for another day).

[Cheesehead 0]

Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a tragedy

to bring enough attention to spend the time and money on repairing our basic infrastructure (kind of like N'Orleans, though that's discussion for another day).

Or Dale Earnhardt

[sabre09923 0]

Bush on the scene...

[SCATMAN 33]

Not good at all. It happened during peak hour as well didnt it?

[trevor13478 1]

Not good at all. It happened during peak hour as well didnt it?

Anybody else see this, 8 lane highway over the Mississippi river colapsed durring rush hour. CNN says 50 cars in the river and 3 confirmed dead. flip to CNN right now for more info...