Breaking: Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis

KSTP TV 5/ME | 8/1/07 | Me

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Just turned on the news. 35W bridge collapsed in the Mississippi River. Cars, trucks, semis.....

Fires burning, tanker trucks, at least one school bus, more than ten cars......

Just now breaking.......

[Delphinium]

there were explosions THEN it collapsed. Has anyone else heard this?

I heard that early on right when it started being reported. They weren't sure it was explosions, or just the sound from the collaps.

Wonder if they'd tell us anyway?

[Lijahsbubbe]

My main point is that it is very likely it was a combination of many factors, which when all added together caused the collapse. One factor alone, or two, wouldn’t do it.

I agree. The perfect storm.

[mplsconservative]

I wonder who will be the first one to say that if we weren’t in the war with Iraq, there would be more money for infastructure. Someone will.

I imagine our freshman Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is composing her press release containing this "information" this moment.

[burzum]

Hmm. CNN just talked about the scouring issue. Apparently there were significant rain storms/flooding a couple of weeks ago in Minneapolis.

[metmom]

Bridges and roads and virtually everything here in NY is coated with salt from the time the first snow flies, usually Nov or Dec, until about April. Occasionally it’ll rain during the winter and rinse things off some, but the amount of salt on the roads around here for about half the year is incredible.

I could see Minnesota having a similar situation being so far north.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Amy and Keith, singing a duet........

Get some ear plugs for yer dogs......

[metmom]

The quicker they are to deny terrorism, the more I suspect it.

[HollyB]

This is a quote from the local baltimore website:

“Jamie Winegar of Houston said she was sitting in traffic when all of a sudden she started hearing “boom, boom, boom and we were just dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping”

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_213195402.html

Now, the boom was probably the sound of the bridge collapsing, but I immediate thought of this quote when I read your post. Let us know if you hear more about it. thx.

[Perchant]

Who was that guy that they had on there a couple of hours after the collapse whining about how we need to raise gas taxes? I didn’t catch his name but he looked so much like a Mondale that I’d be willing to bet money that they are related and the creep gets air time on KARE during what must be their highest viewership ever to give this clown a platform.

We need to keep an ear out for these political opportunists and document their BS early on so that we can show their weaselness later. I hate that my video capture software is not functioning at this time.

[luvie]

She would be the one I was thinking about...with your new Muslim representative right behind her.

I heard her first statement on Fox Channel 9 and it was such
a non-statement. You are right...she is busy writing it.

[battlegearboat]

It’s Mark Twain’s fault.

[takenoprisoner]

I was watching Fox when they first showed it and for past few hours (except for 1033-1100pm) and a local reporter was talking to someone who said there were explosions THEN it collapsed. Has anyone else heard this?

---

Must of been some sort of whacko nut ball wearing a tin foil hat making such outrageous claims hearing explosions. /sarc

This person needs to forget about what they heard to avoid being demonized by the above tags for the rest of their life.

Meanwhile, rescue operations are still underway and before a single investigation into cause has been initiated, the DHS is already claiming no terrorism. Ignore the fact that they warned us of an event like this over and over. Just trust them now.

[mplsconservative]

Earplugs is right. LOL!

[NormsRevenge]

yahoo photos has a pile of shots

Slideshow: Minn. bridge collapses into Mississippi River

[jeffers]

No, on closer inspection, the mainspan piers appear to be intact.

Heat will expand steel, but good design takes this into account. An expanding deck, for example is not permitted to shift verticals out of plumb.

Something else did that here:



Either the diagonals between the kingposts failed, allowing them to deflect sideways under load, or else the next pier/truss system in the sidespan (behind the word "kingpost" in green) failed, transferring considerable gravity load to the mainspan pier/truss system and it couldn't take it.

Thanks to Straight Vermonter for the underlay image and the notion of sidespan pier failure.

[Lijahsbubbe]

CCO reporting twenty missing.

[crazyshrink]

Sounds like the “explosions” were when the bridge was 1st breaking apart. I heard that lady also. We are lucky more people weren’t killed. I just moved from that area out to rural and am amazed to see this.

[mplsconservative]

She’s spinning it as we speak, online-wise.

It will be interesting as to what is said in the morning.

Me, I’m going to bed. A few prayers in order tonight.

G’night all!

[Lijahsbubbe]

I defer to your expertise.

News talking about traffic tomorrow. This is going to be a mess, to say the least.

[blu]

So, to sum up, can we surmise that the bridge collapsed because of the following:

overload (too many construction vehicles, poorly placed, too much traffic)
freight train vibrations/displacement (oh, please say this had something to do with it! It makes such a simple visual for me!)

You have given some great explanations, pictures even. Thanks for all your work!