Stunned

A major bridge collapse in Minneapolis this evening. The I-35W bridge over the Mississippi in Minneapolis collapsed at around 6:00 P.M. with at least dozens of passenger and other vehicles on it. There is also a Twins game at the Metrodome tonight so there were likely some fans going to the game also. So far no reports of deaths but some unknown number of people have been injured and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. Most were described on Kare11(that I'm watching live) as non-life threatening though they quoted a spokesman there that there are some serious and critical injuries. It's not clear if there are trapped cars or pedestrians at this point. There is a parkway with pedestrian and bike paths below the bridge.

I'm just stunned. This bridge is a major artery in Minneapolis and it's absolutely surreal to see this. I went over this bridge just at noon today when I left work early in NE Minneapolis. They've been working on this bridge all summer so my first thought is structural failure. No one is talking terrorism at this point though I'm sure that will be investigated. Kare11 said the FBI is on the way and that they saw a Homeland Security vehicle. I'm betting at this point it's a structural failure of some sort though, not terrorism.

The post I was writing when this news broke was to say I'm heading east tomorrow to the Adirondacks for a family gathering. I'll post on that as I can and if I hear anything or have some more thoughts I'll update this.

Update: MNDOT is saying the only work going on today was surface repair, not major structural work. HCMC says 15 patients are being treated, a blessedly smaller number than I would expect. They are saying that that is the "first wave" and they expect more. That may be some who had less serious injuries and were prioritized for later transport. Or it could mean they are aware of some people who are still being rescued.

Kare11 has a live feed on the web. WCCO has links you can get to here.

Update 8:25 P.M.: 22 patients at HCMC with limb injuries but not life threatening. 6 critical. 1 dead, possibly drowning. There are rumors of more, but there will be an MPD press conference at 8:45.

Update: 9:30 P.M.: 6 fatalities so far. With the amount of debris and the general cloudy nature of the Mississippi I would not be surprised if there are more. My thoughts and prayers go out to any who have suffered a loss tonight.

Comment: Obviously the focus is on rescue and recovery. There may still be people trapped and now darkness will hamper that effort. In addition we have had some severe weather roll through, but it may have missed the site for now.

A rail line was affected and thankfully the cars that were hit had no hazardous materials. They don't seem to be worried about it. The bridge was located just below the lower (IIRC)St. Anthony Falls lock and dam and it appears that the river is completely blocked now. The impact on road vehicle transportation will likely be severe. I'm not sure about the impact on rail but the barge terminal upstream is obviously out of business. There may be some impact short term because of those transportation venues being cut, but it can probably be handled by other lines and ports.

Update 11:25 P.M.: 7 confirmed dead and 38 injured. WCCO is now also reporting 20 missing. My heart hopes most of that last number is just confusion and trouble communicating, but my head tells me that some at least are in the river and at this point it's recovery and not rescue. I hope I'm wrong.

Comments

[Rob]

Unreal. Glad you're safe, Dave.

[Dave E.]

Thanks, Rob. All of my family is ok. I hope all of your relatives are ok also. BTW-We walked down towards that bridge or pretty close to it after we had lunch that day we met. The closest bridge downriver was the 3rd Avenue bridge. The next one downriver was this one.

[Rob]

I drove over that bridge several times while I was in town. My heart goes out to Minneapolis. Obviously, the deaths and injuries are horrendous. It's going to snarl traffic for the next several months/years, too. When the I-10 bridge into New Orleans was washed away by Katrina, the traffic was almost unbearable. That was one of the three major arteries from the north and east into New Orleans, a smaller city whose population had dwindled even further by the storm. There are only so many alternate routes to be taken.