Gridlock News

I35W collapsed this evening into the Mississippi in Minneapolis taking rush hour traffic and constructions workers crashing down.  It was the middle of rush hour and the bridge and interstate were gridlocked with rush hour traffic.

The bridge was cited last year for having fractures in some of the girders.  Road surfacing construction was taking place at the time of the collapse.

The Department of Homeland Security is monitoring the collapse but initial indications have not indicated that terrorism may be the problem.

Unlike the 2002 collapse of a portion of the bridge on I40 over the Arkansas river, this bridge suffered a total collapse.  The I40 collapse resulted from a barge striking the bridge and the span of the bridge was much shorter.  Fourteen people died in that collapse.

So far 3 people are reported dead in Minneapolis and dozens more injured with searchers still attempting to pull people out of the water and out from underneath the bridge.  Total collapse of bridges in the United States have historically resulted from corrosion and fatigue over the last 50 years.  This bridge was over 40 years old.