Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

For the engineers and science curious...the worst bridge collapse, IMO.

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, 11/07/40

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[OSUG1]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

I was just in Minneapolis yesterday (now in Fargo till Mon) but didn't have to go across I-35, but the first thing I though of was the bridge collapse over the Arkansas river a couple years ago in Oklahoma. Thoughts and prayers to families and friends of those lost and those that are unaccounted for.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1338294.html

9 dead, 60 injured, 20 missing

[Motown]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

First thing I thought of when I heard about and saw this was The Mothman Prophecies.

At 5:00 PM on December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed claiming 46 lives and injuring 9

http://www.wvculture.org/History/disasters/silverbridge03.html

I had a great great uncle that lost his life on that tragic evening of Dec 15. '67
his grandaughter and his best buddy...his dog...were both w/ him.

thoughts & prayers go out to the families.

[fsquid]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

Mississippi River looks so small up there.

[SoMiss2000]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

Mississippi River looks so small up there.

sure does.

[Boltman]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ab_1186054443&p=1

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[mgoblue]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

Boltman, holy crap!

I seriously wonder how the hell the bridge failed at both ends at the same time. CNN had a civil engineer type guy who knew the bridge and he was baffled too. This wasn't a single point of failure that spread, the entire bridge just collapsed. That's just nuts. I've seen too many episodes of "Seconds from Disaster", "Engineering Disasters", etc., but usually it's different than this. Those people didn't stand a chance.

[bukktown]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

I've heard of 20 people still missing. 4 confirmed dead by the Hennepin county Medical Examiner. They are being very careful of releasing the confirmed dead. Last night rescue workers reported 9 dead. 6 in critical condition. It might take up to a year for engineers to discover the cause. There is also a frontage road that ran under the bridge too. Everyone here has sunken hearts today. Although unimportant in light of the loss of human life it bears to mention the traffic situation of losing an 8 lane highway and the absolute chaos for MNdot right now.

[bergie56]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

I haven't heard any updates on injuries or deaths. I guess they were having a hard time getting divers in the water today and have just been trying to get license plate numbers from cars in the water to identify missing people.

[bergie56]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

Thoughts go out to the families of course, but is anyone else disappointed (again!) with the news coverage? Maybe it's just Fox Noise, but I haven't seen or heard anyone from the big engineering groups that would have ACTUAL knowledge and information...American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), nor the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

You could give the average American a basic working knowledge of bridge design, materials testing (for the concrete work), the joint types and how/why they fail, probable causes, what have you!

Instead you get the same old emotion-based sensationalistic journalism. Give the folks real information!

EDIT: Just read all of MSNBC and CNN's web coverage and only found mention of some fatigue effects on the approach from a 2001 report at CNN.com.

Couldn't agree more. I have found the radio to have the best coverage and interviews so far. I had to change the channel a couple times last night because of the news stations. For much the same manner, I was kind of disgusted by the president's speech today. However that isn't anything to get into on here.

[asrabbit91]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

This honestly doesn't really make sense, it's like a bad dream, I can't imagine what they went through. It would be like a rollercoaster, with nothing totally keeping you safe. It's just weird how somehow the bus didn't go into the water, it's like god was definitely with them on that bridge. I think it had to be due to the construction, something about a jackhammer if you ask me. Something with the vibration.

[mgoblue]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

Thoughts go out to the families of course, but is anyone else disappointed (again!) with the news coverage? Maybe it's just Fox Noise, but I haven't seen or heard anyone from the big engineering groups that would have ACTUAL knowledge and information...American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), nor the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

You could give the average American a basic working knowledge of bridge design, materials testing (for the concrete work), the joint types and how/why they fail, probable causes, what have you!

Instead you get the same old emotion-based sensationalistic journalism. Give the folks real information!

EDIT: Just read all of MSNBC and CNN's web coverage and only found mention of some fatigue effects on the approach from a 2001 report at CNN.com.

I'm right with you, Johnny....I'm a total nerd when it comes to this stuff and I want to know exactly why this might have happened

[ehh]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

Tragic. It's amazing only five people have been reported as deceased. Hopefully the number stops there.

[oakfan162]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

I just saw an interview on CNN with a woman who was jogging under the bridge when it collapsed. Un-freaking-believable! Amazing.

[Blzer]

Re: Minneapolis Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River

Bump



Update on bridge collapse investigation:

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/2003-photos-reveal-warping-on-bridge/20080323153909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Some of these 2003 photos reveal bent gusset plates that were probably the beginning of the warping on the bridge.

Almost makes me afraid to drive on a bridge again.