Major Bridge just collapsed in Minneapolis

Have you heard anything yet, Julie?

How terrible!! My prayers are with everyone in the area

My thoughts and prayers are with the families on this dark day.

Only just seen this!

How awful.
Sending prayers for all those involved.
They are saying that 4 people are dead now, not 9 Still 4 too many.

Originally Posted by gayef

Oh Honey ... I hope you hear something soon. The waiting is just horrific. I will be up a while yet ... if you need someone to stay up and wait with you, I can.

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Thank you so much I did not see this until now but it means a lot. I was able to sleep last night, it was a long day.

Originally Posted by AbbysMom

Have you heard anything yet, Julie?

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Yes, everyone is alive and well so far. It took awhile, basically my grandma on my mom's side is the only one that moved out of the area, and my great uncle and aunt were leaving to go to their cabin up north yesterday.

Thank you all for all your support. We haven't gotten ahold of absolutely everyone yet, but we're pretty sure everything is fine, as they don't usually drive around downtown.

I really feel for everyone who is still wondering They're in my thoughts.

I've been praying for all the families involved. I just can't imagine.

Originally Posted by littleraven7726

My aunt told me that they are reporting up there that there was a report done in 2006 on that bridge showing "Stress Cracking" and nothing was done about it.

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In all fairness, if they thought it was unsafe for traffic they would have shut it down. Stress to the reinforced concrete is to be expected over time, and repairs as well. And 2006 was just last year; it takes time to bid out big construction jobs like that and get them scheduled. So we can't say NOTHING was done about it, because we don't know what may or may not have been in the works.

Originally Posted by RicaLynn

In all fairness, if they thought it was unsafe for traffic they would have shut it down. Stress to the reinforced concrete is to be expected over time, and repairs as well. And 2006 was just last year; it takes time to bid out big construction jobs like that and get them scheduled. So we can't say NOTHING was done about it, because we don't know what may or may not have been in the works.

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That's just what my aunt told me, who lives in the area and is watching the news there. Here in Iowa there hasn't been much reporting.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

Gaye and Julie Im so happy that you guys have heard from your sis and family and that all is well.

Continued prayers for the missing and thier families and the deceased and their families.

Oh my, I just can't believe this news. How sad and terrifying for those that have lost or are missing family and friends.

I pray for the families, and i am so glad any members that were affected are okay

Originally Posted by littleraven7726

My aunt told me that they are reporting up there that there was a report done in 2006 on that bridge showing "Stress Cracking" and nothing was done about it.

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I was reading an article about this today and it said
"The eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, was in the midst of repairs when the bridge buckled during the evening rush hour Wednesday. Dozens of cars plummeted more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River, some falling on top one of another. A school bus sat on the angled concrete."

So it looks like they were doing something about it.

Of course, I really don't know anything, but I saw that in the article today and thought of this post... so I just thought I'd share it.

Still have my fingers crossed for everyone out there waiting to hear from family and friends. There's a member on another board that I'm waiting to hear from because I know he lives in Minneapolis... I'm hoping he was away for work

Originally Posted by ScamperFarms

I just got home from this. I take that way to and from work, every single day. I was on my way home from work..and was 1/4 of a mile away from the bridge when this happened. It is horrendus. Its horrible, please pray for those of us here in MN..and those who were not as lucky to be some space back.

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Originally Posted by gayef

12:15 AM ET - Just got a text message that she was at the Casino when this happened ... she called her friends and they decided to meet out there instead of in town. She is safe. *big sigh of relief*

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Originally Posted by littleraven7726

I just heard from the rest of my family. Everyone is accounted for and ok. I am so relieved.

My aunt told me that they are reporting up there that there was a report done in 2006 on that bridge showing "Stress Cracking" and nothing was done about it.

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So glad to hear the good news from these members...

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

I still don't know. Half of my extended family lives in the cities (many in Cottage Grove actually too) and we are just hoping that had anything happened we would know by now... nobody is answering.

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Yes, everyone is alive and well so far. It took awhile, basically my grandma on my mom's side is the only one that moved out of the area, and my great uncle and aunt were leaving to go to their cabin up north yesterday.

Thank you all for all your support. We haven't gotten ahold of absolutely everyone yet, but we're pretty sure everything is fine, as they don't usually drive around downtown.

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Any updates?

Originally Posted by gemlady

So glad to hear the good news from these members...

Any updates?

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Yes, so far everyone is fine. Shaken, but fine. We are pretty sure everyone is safe.

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

Yes, so far everyone is fine. Shaken, but fine. We are pretty sure everyone is safe.

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That's good news.

Still sending and prayers for those who are waiting for news or have lost people.

At first, I thought this collapse was further evidence of the way our aging infrastructure is crumbling -- but on our local news here, they said this bridge was of the same design as a beautiful bridge in Austin that was the first of the kind, and the Austin bridge is only 25 years old... so age can't be the reason for this collapse.

The salient feature of the design is that nothing touches the water, so there's an unsupported stretch in the section that crosses the river. That means an awful lot depends on the tensile strength of the materials in the span.

It's just so sad.

Its really scary because we have many bridges in my area that go across the Mississippi, and they had investigators on all of them last night because they are the same type of bridge that collapsed yesterday.

Its really scary because we go across those bridges daily

http://www.kare11.com/video/player.aspx?aid=51365&bw=

Here's a video from Kare 11 News that shows the bridge falling- from a security camera nearby

It is being reported in our local news today that our state (MA) has 506 bridges that are in the same exact state that the MN bridge was in prior to the collapse.

It isn't about age, necessarily. It's about how it was built and how it has been maintained over the years. Some of the oldest structures are the most solid. "Corner-cutting" is something that is newer to construction, as labor and supply costs continue to skyrocket.

Take a look at Boston's "Big Dig." MILLIONS of dollars later, it still leaks and a woman was killed when a section of the cement ceiling let go and crashed onto her car. Why? Because they used cheap epoxy that wasn't strong enough to hold up the giant cement blocks.

A construction company that was involved in building the tunnel recently admitted to adding water to the concrete mix when they ran short of materials to "stretch" it. This weakened the integrity of the ENTIRE tunnel project.

I'm at the point where I refuse to travel through a tunnel unless I have absolutely no choice, and I hold my breath EVERY time I go over a bridge around here, ESPECIALLY in bumper to bumper traffic.

But hey - let's talk about Lohan or Hilton or Spears some more, take us away from what is REALLY important - like the lives of millions of commuters, perhaps?

Originally Posted by GingersMom

It is being reported in our local news today that our state (MA) has 506 bridges that are in the same exact state that the MN bridge was in prior to the collapse.

It isn't about age, necessarily. It's about how it was built and how it has been maintained over the years. Some of the oldest structures are the most solid. "Corner-cutting" is something that is newer to construction, as labor and supply costs continue to skyrocket.

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Thats why they are inspecting all the bridges here in town today- they were made in the exact same way that the I-35 bridge was. Its so scary & so real when it could happen in the town you live in...

the i35 bridge was only 40 years old, i personally dont think thats very old for a bridge. in all honesty i think this is just a terrible terrible accident. even with stress fractureing, ect if the bridge had been deemed unsafe they WOULD have shut it down. i just think with both sides having construction on them all the extra weight from the machinery..and the almost constant fairly congested traffic (because each side was down to two lanes) than bumper to bumper..it just failed.

And i pray, and thank the big guy that this wasnt worse. It is horrible what has happened. But there could also be alot more dead.