Major Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota... Many Injuries/Deaths Feared

Originally posted by Dr Love
Could it be that the bridge just flat gave out, absolutely, that's probably what happened, but when we see the media sensationalizing (I think that's a word?

) and crying "infrastructure" and all in a rather short time span, we have to keep our guard up.
Peace

I did try and explain how I thought it happened from my civil engineer qualified viewpoing but hey, its ok if you missed it

Nef

I just want to know where the heck the Mothman was???? Isn't he suppose to warn us about crap like this?

Originally posted by elevatedone

Originally posted by Trinity2492
the reporter on fox news was saying that there was minor construction taking place on the bridge and gave the comment that there had to be some type of impact or explosion for such a catastrophe to happen....

this could be a dry run for a terrorist attack.

i am very worried.

it could be sabotage.




national guarad should be called out to protrct brideges.


arabs need to be stopped before they kill more innocent thousands of americans.







:

:




my gun is ready to defend america from terrorism.

[edit on 2-8-2007 by esecallum]

[edit on 2-8-2007 by esecallum]

Originally posted by QuestionMark
O.K. I dont know if anyone mentioned this yet but i had to throw it out there.

Anyone find it interesting that the Republican convention will be held in Minnesota in 2008?

I've thought about this, but haven't put anything together. Mrs Bush is to be here already on Friday for a scheduled event but now has a change of plans while here, and now the President is coming on Saturday. Regardless, I dont think that has to do with anything other than maybe another press chances for him.

What I DO find a little interesting is that our Minnesota Senetors / Law Makers were working on a bill for later this summer with regards to bridge inspections. It was submitted just an hour before this happened to be looked at after the August vacation period

As for John Lear, I understand what he's trying to show. After all, this bridge collapse has gained massive amounts of media attention and has taken away from other important news. But I have to tell Mr. Lear that there are 2 missing people in the diasaster who just came home from Iraq (Alot of MN tropps came home within the last few weeks). They probably thought they would die in a war zone, only to come home safe and sound, then be one of the 30+ missing (now presumed dead) people.

It should also be known that this event jammed cell phone services in the Twin Cities, slowed internet access, and our local stations have been covering this for the last 24 hours straight . This is a major blow to our transportation system and in some ways our economy.

As for the media, I havnt seen any press coverage on this scale since 9/11. And with regards to the media, I've hear it was 2 lanes - 1 way each direction. To clarify, it's 2 lanes each way, with the other 2 lanes each way closed.

==================
Latest report is there are 4 comfirmed dead, 79 injured, and at least 30 cars in the river under water. There are also comformation people (bodies) are in vehicles still at this point, but with no movement (unconfirmed deaths). So, when you do the math, the chances are the death toll could rise to 60 people easily, as many people car pooled here in the Twin Cities. If each of those 30 cars in the water had 2 people in each car, that is what is possiably the "High end" of the death toll, however it's been predicted already that because they can not get to those cars yet, many of the 79 injured may have been able to get out of the cars in the water. And this does not include those vehicles crushed that havnt been reached yet.

[edit on 2-8-2007 by Spoontoad]

[edit on 2-8-2007 by Spoontoad]

I just got back from checking out the site. Police and the fire department have made it very difficult (at least from my attempt) to get anywhere near the site. I did however get to cross a few parallel bridges (rush hour traffic was nuts) and the general impression I got was one of giant scale. TV really doesn't do this justice.. the whole scene is just huge and the sight of all that concrete jutting up at very strange angles is startling.

Originally posted by andyzero1234
I just got back from checking out the site. Police and the fire department have made it very difficult (at least from my attempt) to get anywhere near the site. I did however get to cross a few parallel bridges (rush hour traffic was nuts) and the general impression I got was one of giant scale. TV really doesn't do this justice.. the whole scene is just huge and the sight of all that concrete jutting up at very strange angles is startling.

Andyzero, where about in the city do you live? You can send ma a U2U if you would like. I've wanted to check it out in person, but havnt because Chn 11, 4, & 5 are asking on the police's behalf to stay away. I do agree though - if you are familiar with this bridge, the TV does NOT do this justice. Looks small on the TV when you know what that bridge used to look like.

Just a weird coincidence. The Silver Bridge over the Ohio River was part of US Highway 35. The Bridge in Minneapolis was part of I-35. Weird.

Are there any chances of this train being the cause of the bridge collapse somehow?

Originally posted by esecallum



national guarad should be called out to protrct brideges.


arabs need to be stopped before they kill more innocent thousands of americans.

Excuse me?

"Arabs" need to be stopped? Talk about generalizations...

Originally posted by Hellmutt
Are there any chances of this train being the cause of the bridge collapse somehow?

There's been no official mention, and it's unclear if the train was actually moving at the time, but a few have brought that up here in Minneapolis. Many people heard a rumble compared to a freight train, so maybe that's what they heard? I think that may officially come into play later on in the investigation but until the officials at least figure out which portion of the bridge started the event, it's anyone's guess as to what triggered this.

One thing I would like to point though is that the freight trains in that area move at about 35 mph, so if you take a look at the pictures and video, one would think a moving freight train would have more damage than it does. In otherwords, the picture of 1 portion of the bridge landing on the train car looks like the bridge section fell straight ontop of it while the train was still (which is not out of the norm) vs if the train was moving, there would be a little more damage, like a sheared top, or at least bent to the direction it was coming from. Hope that makes sense.

Spoontoad: I live in Minnetonka right now but go to school in St. Paul. I just went up and drove by the UofM and got an alright look. My advice is that you go late at night. I went in rush hour traffic and it was absolute murder. Every intersection has an officer there directing traffic. The news is right, I shouldn't have gone during the day. If you can, I bet tonight would be a lot better.

Jeremy Hernandez

Hero x 50.



The school bus with 50 kids on it plunged downward as the bridge collapsed. It stopped just short of landing in the river. As the dust cleared Jeremy kicked the back door open and helped all the children off the bus to safety.

Video coverage











[edit on 8/2/07 by makeitso]

Originally posted by makeitso

Jeremy Hernandez

That Man has recieved better training than what any other schooling could have tought him! My hat's off to him and his future career.

[edit on 2-8-2007 by Spoontoad]

[edit on 2-8-2007 by Spoontoad]



Mod edit: removed unnecessary quote of the entire previous post

[edit on 2007/8/2 by Hellmutt]

Originally posted by Samblak
This comes as no surprise to me, alot of the infrastructure in the USA is old and decrepit. It's gotten to a point to where we are overwhelmed by it and Contractors cannot keep up with the repairs. This country is bigger then itself, officials are clueless as to how to manage these problems and we will be seeing alot of incidences like this in the coming future.

[edit on 1-8-2007 by Samblak]

thefatlady replies:

Ditto, a family member told them over a year ago that the bridge was unsound and unsalvageable and should be closed to traffick immediately. Still, I wonder if it could have taken an infrasound hit ?

Also, the bridge was built in 1967 I believe. Back then and maybe even now, mafia persons had their hands involved in a lot of major construction. Certain reinforcements may not have been added and extra moneys may have been pocketed. I say may because I wasn't born until 1979 so I wasn't there. I have however heard stories of people who were involved in the building of several bridges across the Misissippi, namely the Poplar street bridge in St. Louis, which was built around the same time, pocketing lots of extra money because they were "encouraged" by certain parties involvied in the mafia to leave out some reinforcements to save money.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Originally posted by makeitso
Jeremy Hernandez

Hero x 50.

The school bus with 50 kids on it plunged downward as the bridge collapsed. It stopped just short of landing in the river. As the dust cleared Jeremy kicked the back door open and helped all the children off the bus to safety.

[edit on 8/2/07 by makeitso]

I really don't know why people are praising him like he is something special. Sure, what he did was brave and he maintained his composure, but he really didn't have a choice, did he? How many people would kick open the bus door, say, "See ya kiddies!" and just leave a bus full of terrified and hurt children? To me, a hero is someone who chooses heroism from a position of personal safety.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he wasn't brave but to make him out to be something special is a sad indictment of our species. To me he is a human being doing precisely what makes us human. He was acting, as we all should, with a responsibility to and respect for his fellow man and their life.

Jon

[edit on 8.3.2007 by Voxel]

I feel for the families of the people that died in this tragedy.

Does anyone know if there were any survivors rescued who might have been trapped appart from the children in the school bus?

Muaddib,

The paralyzed guy in the blue van. He is something else. He had the clear mind to run his van into the guard rail to keep it from going over into the water. Then he was just trapped there because of the severe incline. If he had gotten out his wheel chair would have rolled. Two first responders got him out and to safety.

sorry if this has been posted already...

actual live footage of the bridge collapse taken from a security camera

i'm sure they're right about the footage 'being studied time and time and time again'

Direct quote from a friend of mine:

We can't have any new bridges or roads in this state, because the money just isn't available. Good thing, though, that we are able to scratch enough together to build multi-million dollar sports stadiums. Every time I plop down my surtax in Hennepin County to build a new park for the suck-ass Twins I'll think of that.