I-35 Bridge collapse

[XcYZ]

Unreal...

http://www.lateral-g.net/temp/bridge_collapse/i35wmiss02.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.net/temp/bridge_collapse/ekjl.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.net/temp/bridge_collapse/434.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.net/temp/bridge_collapse/32.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.net/temp/bridge_collapse/34.jpg

[XcYZ]

http://www.lateral-g.net/temp/bridge_collapse/456.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.net/temp/bridge_collapse/45.jpg

[Sales@Dutchboys]

OMG, How close is that to you Scott?

Hope no one was killed...

Paul

[XcYZ]

I'm about an hour away, but have been across that bridge countless times. It's a MAJOR artery, handling somewhere around 150,000 to 200,000 cars per day.

7 dead... so far.

[mazspeed]

It looks as if it gave away on both sides and in the center. Wow, what a terrible thing to happen.

[HAULNSS]

So far.....no one I know directly has been affected. A lot of people that would have been real close had they not stayed late at work, left late for the Twins game, took a different route due to congestion, etc. Whew.:hail:

My Mother in Law knew the people on the schoolbus through her work. It sounds like there are some broken backs and legs on the adults, but the kids are okay. :omg:

Kind of freaky when it is this close and a road that you travel once in awhile.

Randy

[Smack_talker]

I drive a big truck and just went over that bridge a week ago. I always wonder when I am driving over a big bridge that it will hold me and all the other weight going across. Prayers sent to all affected.

[CRCRFT78]

It brings to mind the Bay Bridge collapse (although not as big) and the Cypress Freeway collapse during the 1989 earthquake here in the Bay Area. Never a good thing. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims.

[HAULNSS]

Here are some pictures taken by a guy on one of our local forums.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture017.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture016.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture015.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture014.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture013.jpg

Randy

[HAULNSS]

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture012.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture011.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture010.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture009.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture008.jpg

[HAULNSS]

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture007.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture006.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture005.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture003.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x244/5door/35%20Collapse/Picture002.jpg

[andrewmp6]

its been all over the news here sucks to see it happen.they say yet why it happened.

[zbugger]

My girlfriend's mom works near there, but took today off, luckily. And her brother lives nearby as well. I called her to see how they were after I heard it happen and we found out they were ok. Not around when it happened. Insane and I send my best wishes to anyone involved.

[tyoneal]

Wow! That's a Damn shame. I'm sorry so any people were involved. Our thoughts and prayers will be with them.

Ty

BTW: Do any of you all think this looks Really Strange? The Bridge was inspected last year and passed, as it had many years prior to that. Those bridges are usually so "over" designed it really surprises me it would fail so completely all at one moment.

Maybe someone was fudging the inspections and never looked at it.

I see a big sling out there waiting for many asses to be thrown in it.

[XcYZ]

Amazing pictures, Randy. Do you and your wife use I35W on a daily basis at all?

[jannes_z-28]

Tragic accident.

Even though a bridge normally is constructed with a safefactor of 10 it only require failure in one critical spot for it to collapse. It's not the first bridge to give in. Probably a construction error in the way that they didn't think of some factor. Vibrations will eventually cause fatigue. Have you been standing on a bridge when a truck passes and felt how much the bridge moves? It's amazing.

Roadsalt can really be effective in corrosion on steelbridges.


Jan

[Steve Chryssos]

That is just terrible. And over a river no less, so strong currents affect rescue and recovery.

[HAULNSS]

Amazing pictures, Randy. Do you and your wife use I35W on a daily basis at all?


Thankfully, no. :thumbsup:

However, that bridge isn't too far from Porky's and the University Ave. strip where the weekend cruising is. We are in the area when we go down there cruising and to visit a friends cylinder head shop that is also pretty close.

A friend posted this on a local board...
My Dad is a Minneapolis Cop, He is a Lieutenant and him and his team has been there all night. He called me this morning and I got a little insight. There is going to be a lot more dead. There is lots of cars completely submerged and some under the bridge. They haven't even bother to check them as yesterday the goal was to rescue those who could be rescued. Now they are starting a recovery. This is not good.

~HJ


SpeedyV10 was also VERY close at the time of the collapse. He actually was on the road underneath shortly before the collapse. Hopefully, SpeedyV10 will post here, as he went back to the bridge right after it went down.

Randy

[buickfunnycar.com]

Unreal...

http://www.lateral-g.net/temp/bridge_collapse/i35wmiss02.jpg

I dunno maybe it's just me...but that bridge design looks as scary as all get up in that picture.:_paranoid

[L8ONBRAKE]

:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

Damn, and I have to drive over the Bay Bridge everyday to get to work............

RIP

[mazspeed]

:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

Damn, and I have to drive over the Bay Bridge everyday to get to work............

RIP

I have been on that bridge many times. That one worries me a lot.

[dropit69]

the news said that the bridge was under repairs when it collapsed but the before pics really dont show any repair ?..what a tragedy..

[zbugger]

the news said that the bridge was under repairs when it collapsed but the before pics really dont show any repair ?..what a tragedy..
They were doing road resurfacing and repairing/replacing guard rails on the bridge.

As for the passing inspections, that's a technicality. It was deemed in need of repair, but given an ok to continue use. There was a comment that collapse was possible if the roadbed was to come apart, but was unlikely to happen in the near future. That was just a couple years ago, from what the interviews I've seen said. I think the construction workers just may have reached that spot.

[XcYZ]

Here are a bunch more detailed pics:

Collapse pictures (http://www.conphoto.net/collapse.html)

[yell01]

Still shocking. My prayers go out to everyone involved.

[L8ONBRAKE]

What a crazy feeling that would be to suddenly have the freakin road drop out from underneath you and to land on someone elses roof with metal and concrete falling everywhere, meanwhile other cars are falling into the water, a train getting squashed and fires breaking out! Damn--IT!

[BC69]

That is just nuts! Sad though that it once again takes a bad event for people to act.

An article came out today saying over 70,000 bridges in the US have been noted as not passing inspection!

Tim

[SpeedyV10]

Thankfully, no. :thumbsup:

However, that bridge isn't too far from Porky's and the University Ave. strip where the weekend cruising is. We are in the area when we go down there cruising and to visit a friends cylinder head shop that is also pretty close.

A friend posted this on a local board...
My Dad is a Minneapolis Cop, He is a Lieutenant and him and his team has been there all night. He called me this morning and I got a little insight. There is going to be a lot more dead. There is lots of cars completely submerged and some under the bridge. They haven't even bother to check them as yesterday the goal was to rescue those who could be rescued. Now they are starting a recovery. This is not good.

~HJ


SpeedyV10 was also VERY close at the time of the collapse. He actually was on the road underneath shortly before the collapse. Hopefully, SpeedyV10 will post here, as he went back to the bridge right after it went down.

Randy


I drove under the bridge about 15 minutes or so before the collapse. The bridge went down at about 6pm, and I was on the scene by about 6:30. I was able to make my way to within about 30 feet of the collapsed bridge on the northwest shoreline. The devistation in unimaginable.

There was still a fire on the bridge by the schoolbus, and I saw many twisted and mangled cars. There was re-bar protruding out of the cement chunks, and Iron gurders that were twisted like a bowl of pasta. I am sad to say that we did witness one body being removed from the site.

There was no way that I could help in the rescue effort. Even though I was able to get close to the scene, Police, and rescue workers would not let any civilians get near. I'd like to take just a moment to applaud the rescue response to this disaster. I have never seen so many police cars, fire trucks, and rescue/recovery crews in one area in my whole life. It was extremely well orchestrated based upon the circumstances.

My heart goes out to those people who were just trying to get to their destination....and didn't make it. My prayers go out to their friends and families, and of course, the people who are trying to rescue and recover.

[Josh69]

It's just unreal. I was in the elevator on the way down after work and my co-worker got a call from his friend Emily, saying she wasn't going to make it to their get together that night, the bridge on 35 collapsed and she couldn't go any further. She was pretty calm, so we thought she was stuck in traffic before the bridge....nope, she was ON the bridge! A boat came and got her and he picked her up at the U of M campus a couple hours later.

Here's a pic of her car on his blog, it's the black pontiac:
http://www.xanga.com/mundsen611

In relation to the bridge, my fiance drives that route on Fridays for work, and my Bro-in Law drove under it about 30min before it collapsed on his motorcycle (next to the train that is crushed). I don't go near it, but I drive a Jeep to work with air lockers front/back and a lift, so being the complete dufus that I am, if I saw that, or was on it, I'd be aired down, locked in low and trying to crawl out....yeah right, I'd be cleaning my shorts!

[Scotch]

Bizarre deal- Luckily we're nowhere close to it where we live, but it's very 'local' all points considered.

Some things I noticed:

They say there were 50 cars on the bridge at the time of collapse. I'd expect at least that many fatalities. It seems the actual number is much, much lower. That is really something when you consider the structure fell more than 60 feet, and much of it into a river averaging 10 feet in depth at that point.

The cause? We won't know for awhile, but there are several factors to consider:

It was a very hot and humid day, over 90 degrees.

There was work being done on the bridge, and sections of the concrete deck were removed.

The 50 or so vehicles on the bridge at the time were moving at 10mph or less. There could have been many more vehicles on the bridge if it weren't for the construction taking place.

The bridge was equipped with a computer-controlled anti-ice system. Why is this worthy of mention? Because this spray system hits the exact same places, and the anti-ice fluids drain in the exact same pattern every time it's used. If these fluids are the least bit corrosive to the bridge, this type of system could accelerate corrosion.

And, finally- the train running alongside the bridge. It was already mentioned how much bridges move when big trucks go over them. It could also be mentioned how much the ground moves when trains roll on by. Add these two together, and there's a fair amount of vibration going through the structure.

I'm sure people a lot smarter than me will come up with a very accurate conclusion, but these are just a few things I noticed as the non-stop coverage has been going on.

For what it's worth, if this tragedy means all other bridges get more frequent and intense inspections, that's one upside. Lives across the country and even around the world will be saved, and these people will not have died in vain. Obviously, there are lessons to be learned here, and we will learn them, but they are obviously very expensive lessons indeed.

~SP~

[Musclerodz]

They news here was making mention about the I-40 bridge collapse 5 years ago here in OK when a drunk barge driver hit a pylon that brought it down. Rebuilt it in record time. Just from looking at the pics, it looks like the pylons on the near side of that pic gave way. What happens is the water permeates the concrete pylons and rusts the rebar inside. That causes the rebar to expand up to several times its normal size until the concrete can't hold the pressure anymore and explodes. Sad day for all, and a few more families will be a few million dollars richer due to this unfortunate accident.

Mike

[tyoneal]

Tragic accident.

Even though a bridge normally is constructed with a safefactor of 10 it only require failure in one critical spot for it to collapse. It's not the first bridge to give in. Probably a construction error in the way that they didn't think of some factor. Vibrations will eventually cause fatigue. Have you been standing on a bridge when a truck passes and felt how much the bridge moves? It's amazing.

Roadsalt can really be effective in corrosion on steelbridges.


Jan
=============================================

Anyone want to Spend a lot of time on the Bridge Over the Royal Gorge?

Holy Crap that would suck.!

[rocketman]

I have been over it several times when up for Back to the 50's and when the NSRA had the Nationals there, Very sad accident, just goes to show, you never know when things will happen. God bless everyone involved