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.......

[Petronski]

I’m sorry, but Shep was going apoplectic about the school bus after we all spent 10 minutes looking right at it.

Perhaps he thought there might have been two buses: the one in sight and the one reported to be "in the river."

[don-o]

Gonna lose daylight soon. What a nightmare.

[coder2]

kstp.com

sorry didn't html it..

[mware]

I have been watching the show on the truckers in canada. They said that they could not stop once their trucks was on the ice because the vibrations would cause them to fall through.

I wonder if this is something similar.

[angelcindy]

It will be getting dark soon..making it harder for the rescues

[capt. norm]

I agree about terrorism. People on the bridge reported hearing jackhammer-like sounds before the collapse. Multiple explosions of charges under the supports? Even earthquakes don’t cause this much damage all at once.

I have a friend who has retired from the demolition business and he says all it would have taken to do this would be some shaped charges, as close to the water level as possible. When they detonate, they are not very loud, and they make a "clean cut" like what happened this afternoon.

[libtoken]

CBS describes that several train cars under the bridge were crushed, and at least one person dead has been recovered from the MS river. This occurred around 605 pm. Some construction was said to be not on the bridge, but a bit further along the highway. Not explained so far.

[Abigail Adams]

Minimum of 50 cars involved.

[ninergold3]

This is FAR worse. On the Bay Bridge it was one 20’ section that fell. One side let loose and the other stayed put. This is an entire bridge. . .God help the victims and rescue workers.

[Terriergal]

Mndot estimates 50.

[sten]

my thoughts exactly. relayed charges detonated in sequence

i'm just hoping the homeland security types are thinking paranoid and put some divers in the water at the base of the dam (both sides).. and quickly

i'm not sure if there is anything else in the area that would add to the tragedy

[Spruce]

Thunderstorms moving in. Will hit within the hour.

[Son House]

Homeland UN-Security is saying this is not a terrorist act

Six Imams were in the area recently, luckily their gone, but it may give JeeHaws idea’s.

[Shermy]

“Light traffic on the bridge. Not so light on the Cypress Structure freeway that collapsed. That’s where the most fatalities happened.”

Thanks. Now I remember that.

[Spktyr]

Except the pylons are still standing and appear unaffected.

[ninergold3]

Stonewall

Praise God!

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Stop listening to “them” and catch up HERE.

[Petronski]

Lets get this straight, a jackhammer would not cause a bridge to collapse.

Let's get THIS straight:

(1) I had not claimed it could, but

(2) you might be surprised at the small things that precipitate catastrophic failures.

[GOP_Proud]

I think we will find that lives were spared because it appears that the bridge “pancaked” into the river. I know in ‘67 with the Silver Bridge the spans fell vertically into the river. Virtually all the cars went into the river.

I’m actually shaking as I watch the video. This brings back so many emotions from the ‘67 collapse. I was 16. There was a real pall over our town (Point Pleasant)for months. It was December and Christmas was difficult that year.