Minnesota Bridge Collapse

Interstate Highway 35W (I-35W) Mississippi River bridge (sometimes called Bridge 9340), built in 1967 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MN/DOT), was an eight-lane, 1,900-foot (579 m) deck-arch truss bridge that carried Interstate Highway 35W across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Located in Hennepin County in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area,[3] this north-south bridge connected the Minneapolis neighborhoods of Downtown East and Marcy-Holmes. It was Minnesota's busiest bridge[4] with 141,000 vehicles crossing the steel arch span every day.[2]

On August 1, 2007, the entire bridge collapsed from abutment to abutment, falling into the river and onto its banks during the weekday afternoon rush hour. There were at least 79 injuries and 4 deaths, with 8 still missing.

source : Wikipedia Reuter yahoo news

"There are more than 10 vehicles in the river," Fire Chief Jim Clack said, without indicating whether there were victims inside.

Four people were confirmed dead and authorities said the toll was certain to rise from the unexplained collapse of the 500-foot (150-meter) span.

"A bridge in America just shouldn't fall down," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat.

More than 50 vehicles plunged 65 feet into the river and onto debris from Interstate 35W as the bridge collapsed in a plume of dust, smoke and screams.

More than 60 people were hurt, many suffering broken bones, head and spinal injuries.

Federal authorities quickly ruled out terrorism as a cause, but state and federal safety officials said the bridge's inspection record did not indicate it was unsafe.

Specifically, the collapse raised questions about work being done to patch and resurface the bridge.