35 W Highway Bridge Collapse In MSPL During Road Construction

A horrible accident of some kind occurred today when the bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis suddenly fell into the Mississippi River taking with it 50 cars that plunged into the River.

The bridge simply collapsed, pictures online show the steel girders looking like twisted steel spaghetti strands.

The river there has a very fast current as it lies between a series of locks.

I lived two summers of my life in St. Paul and traveled back and forth into Minneapolis daily. A beautiful city. Wonderful people. I'm sort of blown away. I can see that bridge and the stadium at the University in my mind so well.

So... showing the picture below of what the bridge used to look like.

Here is a link to the ongoing construction project. Tonight was supposed to be the second part of a two night closure when only the Department of Transportation in Minnesota knows what exactly was taking place but I would imagine heavy work was down last night. The project started in late June and was set to finish in September. This was the halfway point I imagine.

Despite what I have heard online there were cracks found in 2006. I suppose the cracks were felt to be minor or something that could be repaired during regular maintenance? ?? I suppose there is a difference between comments in the report in 2006 and actually failing inspection but time and investigations will tell.

Amazing rescue attempts and the story of the children being saved from the bus is miraculous. Amazing... very scary, very lucky to be alive. Just a matter of minutes made the difference between life and death.

Below is the report put up this week to warn people about the construction ongoing on the bridge.

My prayers go out to everyone and I feel terrible. I was there in February trying to point out the stadium to my brother and the view from the bridge is wild. More so the view down into the river is a bit scary. I never liked those locks on the river or the area in St. Paul around Ft. Snelling. Nicer parts of the River down near St. Paul.

It doesn't take a hurricane or an earthquake or tornado to affect loved ones, there really is no place you can go to protect yourself from such disasters. I hear all the time from people "I'm moving away from Florida to somewhere safe" You can't run always... sometimes bad things happen and they relate to bad maintenance, structural flaws, construction work error... who knows.. but you can't just pack up and run away to someplace safe.. Not that easy as we see today watching CNN.

Will go back to the tropics tomorrow... the wave will be there and it looks like a tenacious wave. Maybe the GOM will pop. One side of the stalled out front on either side of Florida. A few days away from that wave off of Africa developing..

Nite.. Bobbi, word fail me.. hope everyone I know in Minnesota is okay but there will be many not okay and the death toll will climb considering at least 50 vehicles fell off the bridge and people jog and drive underneath the bridge there as well.
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http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/news/07/07/31twoniteclosure35w.html


I-35W will narrow to one lane in Minneapolis over two nights,
July 31 and Aug. 1



ROSEVILLE, Minn. -- Nighttime bridge overlay work will require Minnesota Department of Transportation crews to temporarily restrict traffic to a single lane on I-35W.

The northbound lanes of I-35W between I-94 and Highway 36 will be restricted to a single lane from 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 31, through 5 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 and again from 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1, through 5 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 2.

Southbound I-35W will be restricted to a single lane from 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 until 5 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 2.

The Mn/DOT reminds motorists to SLOW DOWN in work zones and NEVER enter a roadway that has been blocked with barriers or cones. Please join us in a safety partnership. For statewide traffic, construction and travel information visit www.511mn.org or call 511 or log onto www.mndot.gov