I-35W Bridge
Encyclopedia
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge (officially known as Bridge 9340) was an eight-lane, steel truss arch bridge
that carried Interstate 35W
across the Mississippi River
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
, United States
. During the evening rush hour
on August 1, 2007, it suddenly collapsed
, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The bridge was Minnesota's fifth busiest, carrying 140,000 vehicles daily. The NTSB
cited a design flaw as the likely cause of the collapse, and asserted that additional weight on the bridge at the time of the collapse contributed to the catastrophic failure.
Immediately after the collapse, help came from mutual aid
in the seven-county Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area
and emergency response personnel, charities, and volunteers. Within a few days of the collapse, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) planned a replacement bridge, the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge. Construction was completed rapidly, and it opened on September 18, 2008.
Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota's largest city, the bridge connected the Minneapolis neighborhoods of Downtown East
and Marcy-Holmes. The south abutment was northeast of the Metrodome
, and the north abutment was northwest of the University of Minnesota
East Bank campus. The bridge was the southeastern boundary of the "Mississippi Mile" downtown riverfront parkland.
Downstream is the 10th Avenue Bridge, once known as the Cedar Avenue Bridge. Immediately upstream is the lock and dam at Saint Anthony Falls
, where Minneapolis began. The first bridge upstream is the historic Stone Arch Bridge, built for the Great Northern Railway and now used for bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
The north foundation pier of the bridge was near a hydroelectric plant, razed in 1988. The south abutment was in an area polluted by a coal-to-gas
processing plant and a facility for storing and processing petroleum products. These uses effectively created a toxic waste site under the bridge, leading to a lawsuit and the removal of the contaminated soil. No relationship between these prior uses and the bridge failure has been claimed.
The bridge, officially designated "Bridge 9340", was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel
to 1961 AASHO (American Association of State Highway Officials, now American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
) standard specifications. The construction contracts, worth in total more than US$5.2 million at the time, went to Hurcon Inc. and Industrial Construction Company, which built the steel trusses and deck. Construction began in 1964 and the bridge opened to traffic in 1967.
The bridge's fourteen spans extended 1,907 feet (580 m) long. The three main spans were of deck truss
construction while all but two of the eleven approach spans were steel multi-girder
construction, the two exceptions being concrete slab
construction. The piers
were not built in the navigation channel; instead, the center span of the bridge consisted of a single 458-foot (140 m) steel arched truss over the 390-foot (119 m) channel. The two support piers for the main trusses, each with two load-bearing concrete pylons at either side of the center main span, were located on opposite banks of the river. The center span was connected to the north and south approaches by shorter spans formed by the same main trusses. Each was 266 feet (81 m) in length, and was connected to the approach spans by a 38 foot (11.6 m) cantilever
. The two main trusses, one on either side, ranged in depth from 60 feet (18.3 m) above their pier and concrete pylon supports, to 36 feet (11 m) at midspan on the central span and 30 feet (9 m) deep at the outer ends of the adjoining spans. At the top of the main trusses were the deck trusses, 12 feet (3.6 m) in depth and integral with the main trusses. The transverse deck beams, part of the deck truss, rested on top of the main trusses. These deck beams supported longitudinal deck stringers 27 inches (69 cm) in depth, and reinforced-concrete pavement. The deck was 113 ft 4 (34.5 m) in breadth and was split longitudinally. It had transverse expansion joints at the centers and ends of each of the three main spans. The roadway deck was approximately 115 feet (35 m) above the water level.
Construction on the bridge began in 1964 and the structure was completed in 1967 during an era of large-scale projects related to building the Twin Cities freeway system. When the bridge fell, it was still the most recent river crossing built on a new site in Minneapolis. After the building boom ebbed during the 1970s, infrastructure management shifted toward inspection and maintenance.
In February and in December 1996, the bridge was identified as the single most treacherous cold-weather spot in the Twin Cities freeway system, because of the almost frictionless thin layer of black ice
that regularly formed when temperatures dropped to 30s Fahrenheit (4 °C to -1 °C) and below. The bridge's proximity to Saint Anthony Falls contributed significantly to the icing problem and the site was noted for frequent spinouts and collisions. By January 1999, Mn/DOT began testing magnesium chloride
solutions and a mixture of magnesium chloride and a corn-processing byproduct to see whether either would reduce the black ice that appeared on the bridge during the winter months. In October 1999, the state embedded temperature-activated nozzles in the bridge deck to spray the bridge with potassium acetate
solution to keep the area free of winter black ice. The system came into operation in 2000. It has been raised as a possibility that the potassium acetate may have contributed to the collapse of the 35W bridge.
Since 1993, the bridge was inspected annually by Mn/DOT, although no inspection report was completed in 2007, due to the construction work. In the years prior to the collapse, several reports cited problems with the bridge structure. In 1990, the federal government gave the I-35W bridge a rating of "structurally deficient," citing significant corrosion in its bearings. Approximately 75,000 other U.S. bridges had this classification in 2007.
According to a 2001 study by the civil engineering department of the University of Minnesota
, cracking had been previously discovered in the cross girders at the end of the approach spans. The main trusses connected to these cross girders and resistance to motion at the connection point bearings was leading to unanticipated out-of-plane distortion of the cross girders and subsequent stress cracking. The situation was addressed prior to the study by drilling the cracks to prevent further propagation and adding support struts to the cross girder to prevent further distortion. The report also noted a concern about lack of redundancy in the main truss
system, which meant the bridge had a greater risk of collapse in the event of any single structural failure. Although the report concluded that the bridge should not have any problems with fatigue cracking
in the foreseeable future, the bridge instrumentation by strain gauges and continuous structural health monitoring
had been suggested.
In 2005, the bridge was again rated as "structurally deficient" and in possible need of replacement, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's
National Bridge Inventory
database. Problems were noted in two subsequent inspection reports. The inspection carried out June 15, 2006 found problems of cracking and fatigue. On August 2, 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty
stated that the bridge had been scheduled to be replaced in 2020.
The I-35W bridge ranked near the bottom of federal inspection ratings nationwide. The scale used was a "sufficiency rating" which ranges from the highest score, 100, to the lowest score, zero. In 2005 the bridge was given a rating of 50, indicating that replacement may have been in order. Out of over 100,000 heavily used bridges, only about 4% scored below 50. On a separate measure, the I-35W bridge was rated "structurally deficient," but was deemed to have met "minimum tolerable limits to be left in place as it is."
In December 2006, a steel reinforcement project was planned for the bridge. However, the project was canceled in January 2007 in favor of periodic safety inspections, after it was revealed that drilling for the retrofitting would in fact weaken the bridge. In internal Mn/DOT documents, bridge officials talked about the possibility of the bridge collapsing and worried that it might have to be condemned.
The construction taking place in the weeks prior to the collapse included joint work and replacing lighting, concrete and guard rail
s. At the time of the collapse, four of the eight lanes were closed for resurfacing, and there were 575,000 pounds (261,000 kg) of construction supplies and equipment on the bridge.
.jpg)
At 6:05 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, August 1, 2007, with rush hour
bridge traffic moving slowly through the limited number of lanes, the central span of the bridge suddenly gave way, followed by the adjoining spans. The structure and deck collapsed into the river and onto the riverbanks below, the south part toppling 81 feet (25 m) eastward in the process. Approximately 100 vehicles were involved, sending their occupants and 18 construction workers up to 115 feet (35 m) down to the river or onto its banks. Northern sections fell into a rail yard
, landing on three unoccupied and stationary freight train
cars.
Sequential images of the collapse were taken by an outdoor security camera
located at the parking lot entrance of the control facility for the Lower Saint Anthony Falls
Lock and Dam. The immediate aftermath of the collapse was also captured by a Mn/DOT traffic camera
that was facing away from the bridge during the collapse itself.
Mayor R. T. Rybak
and Governor Tim Pawlenty
declared a state of emergency
for the city of Minneapolis and for the state of Minnesota on August 2, 2007. Rybak's declaration was approved and extended indefinitely by the Minneapolis City Council
the next day. As of the morning following the collapse, according to White House Press Secretary
Tony Snow
, Minnesota had not requested a federal disaster declaration. President Bush pledged support during a visit to the site on August 4 with Minnesota elected officials and announced that United States Secretary of Transportation
(USDOT) Mary Peters
would lead the rebuilding effort. Rybak and Pawlenty gave the president detailed requests for aid during a closed-door meeting. Local authorities were assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) evidence team, and by United States Navy
divers who began arriving on August 5, 2007.
A school bus
carrying 60 children ended up resting precariously against the guardrail of the collapsed structure, near the burning semi-trailer truck. The children were returning from a field trip
to a water park
as part of the Waite House Neighborhood Center Day Camp based out of the Phillips community
. Jeremy Hernandez, a 20-year-old staff member on the bus, assisted many of the children by kicking out the rear emergency exit and escorting or carrying them to safety. One youth worker was severely injured.
Thirteen people were killed. Triage centers at the ends of the bridge routed 50 victims to area hospitals, some in trucks, as ambulances were in short supply. Many of the injured had blunt trauma injuries. Those near the south end were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center
(HCMC)—those near the north end, to the Fairview-University Medical Center and other hospitals. At least 22 children were injured. Thirteen children were treated at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
, five at HCMC and four or five at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota
. During the first 40 hours, 11 area hospitals treated 98 victims.
About 1,400 people gathered for an interfaith
service of healing held at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
on August 5, 2007, when many of the victims were still missing. Among the presenters were representatives of the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Native American and Hispanic communities, police, fire and emergency responders, the governor, the mayor, a choir and several musicians. Minnesotans held a minute of silence during National Night Out
, on August 7, 2007, at 6:05 pm. On August 8, 2007, the Twin Cities chapter of the American Red Cross lowered the flags of the United States, the state of Minnesota and the American Red Cross in remembrance of the victims of the tragedy. Gold Medal Park
near the Guthrie Theater
was a gathering place for those who wished to leave flowers or remembrances for those who died. During an address to the city council on August 15, 2007, Rybak remembered each of the victims and "the details of their lives."
The families of the deceased, the survivors, and the first responders who were directly impacted by the bridge collapse—together estimated to be at least several hundred people—did not have United States disaster assistance for individuals. Sandy Vargas, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Foundation, one of seven foundations that form Minnesota Helps, believes the Minnesota Helps Bridge Disaster Fund cannot cover the uninsured medical costs for the victims of the bridge collapse. The fund may be able to make small grants as a gesture of acknowledgment.
Pawlenty and his office, during the last week of November, announced a "$1 million plan" for the victims. State law has limits that may limit awards to below that amount. No legislative action was needed for this step. "The administration wanted approval from the Joint House-Senate Subcommittee on Claims as a sign of bipartisan support" which it received.
On May 2, 2008, the state of Minnesota reached a $38 million agreement to compensate victims of the bridge collapse.
Civilians immediately took part in the rescue efforts. Minneapolis and Hennepin County received mutual aid from neighboring cities and counties throughout the metropolitan area. Emergency personnel arrived in six minutes and responded quickly, helping people who were trapped in their vehicles. They worked in their rescue efforts
through the night, but by the next morning, they had shifted their focus to the recovery of bodies, with several vehicles known to be trapped under the debris and several people still unaccounted for. Twenty divers organized by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) used side-scan sonar
to locate vehicles submerged in the murky water. Their efforts were hampered by debris and challenging currents. The United States Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE) lowered the river level by two feet (60 cm) downriver at Ford Dam
to allow easier access to vehicles in the water. Carl Bolander & Sons, a Saint Paul-based earthworks and demolition company, brought in several cranes and other heavy machinery to assist in clearing debris for rescue workers.
The Minneapolis Fire Department
(MFD) created the National Incident Management System
command center in the parking lot of the American Red Cross
and an adjacent printing company on the west bank. The Minneapolis Police Department
(MPD) secured the area, MFD managed the ground operations, and HCSO was in charge of the water operation. The city provided 75 firefighters and 75 law enforcement units.
Rescue of victims stranded on the bridge was complete in three hours. "We had a state bridge, in a county river, between two banks of a city. ... But we didn't have one problem with any of these issues, because we knew who was in charge of the assets," said Rocco Forte, city Emergency Preparedness Director. City, metropolitan area, county and state employees at all levels knew their roles and had practiced them since the city received FEMA
emergency management training the year following 9/11. Their rapid response time is also credited to the Minnesota and United States Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) investment in 800 MHz mobile radio communications that was operating in Minneapolis and three of the responding counties, the city of Minneapolis collapsed-structures rescue and dive team, and the Emergency Operations Center established at 6:20 p.m. in Minneapolis City Hall
.
Recovery of victims took over three weeks. At the request of USDOT, the Navy sent 17 divers and a five-person command and control element from their Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 (TWO). Divers and Underwater Search Evidence Response Team from the FBI joined the response efforts on August 7, bringing with them "truck-loads" of specialized equipment including FBI-provided side-scan sonar
and two submarines. Not waiting for daybreak, the Navy team was in the water at 2 a.m. The FBI teams had planned to search with an unmanned submarine, but had to abandon this plan after it was found to be too big to maneuver in the debris field and cloudy water. Minneapolis Police Captain Mike Martin stated that "The public safety divers are trained up to a level where they can kind of pick the low-hanging fruit. They can do the stuff that's easy. The bodies that are in the areas where they can sweep shore to shore, the vehicles that they can get into and search that weren't crushed. They were able to remove some of those. Now what we're looking at is the vehicles that are under the bridge deck and the structural pieces."
Seventy-five local, state and federal agencies were involved in the rescue and recovery including emergency personnel and volunteers from the counties of Anoka
, Carver
, Dakota
, Hennepin
, Olmsted
, Ramsey
, Scott
, Washington
, Winona
and Wright
in Minnesota and St. Croix County, Wisconsin
, St. Croix EMS & Rescue Dive Team, and others standing by. Federal assistance came from the United States Department of Defense
, DHS, USACE and the United States Coast Guard
. Adventure Divers of Minot, North Dakota
is a private firm who assisted local authorities.
Local businesses donated wireless Internet, ice, drinks and meals for first responders.
The Salvation Army
canteens served food and water to rescue workers. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
provided chaplains. A Mayo Clinic
transport helicopter was standing by at Flying Cloud Airport
. The Minnesota National Guard
launched a MEDEVAC helicopter and had up to 10,000 guard members ready to help.
As of August 8, 2007, more than 500 Red Cross volunteers and staff persons counseled 2,000 people with grief, trauma, missing persons, and medical issues, and served 7,000 meals to first responders. Donations totalling US$138,368 and received during the catastrophe covered the cost of Red Cross services but about $65,000 in unexpected expenses were not covered.
Following the initial rescue, Mn/DOT retained Carl Bolander & Sons, an earthworks and demolition contractor of Saint Paul, Minnesota
to remove the collapsed bridge and demolish the remaining spans that did not fall. Divers left the water briefly on August 18 while the company's crew used crane
s, excavation drills and cutting torches to remove parts of the bridge deck, beams and girders hoping to improve access for the divers. After the last person's remains were pulled from the wreckage on August 21, the company's crews began dismantling the bridge's remnants. Crews first removed the vehicles stranded on the bridge. By August 18, 80 of the 88 stranded cars and trucks had been moved to the MPD impound lot where owners could claim their vehicles. Then workers shifted to removing the bridge deck using cranes and excavator
s equipped with hoe rams to break the concrete. Structural steel was then disassembled by cranes, and the concrete piers were removed by excavators. NTSB officials asked demolition crews to use extreme care in removing the bridge remnants to preserve as much of the bridge materials as possible. By the end of October 2007, the demolition operation was substantially complete, enabling construction to begin on the new I-35W bridge on November 1, 2007. Much of the bridge debris was temporarily stored at the nearby Bohemian Flats
as part of the ongoing investigation of the collapse; it was removed to a storage facility in Afton, Minnesota
in the fall of 2010. Federal officials plan to bring some of the bridge steel and concrete to the NTSB Material Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
for analysis into determining the cause of the collapse on behalf of FHWA, Mn/DOT and Progressive Construction, Inc. NTSB also interviewed eyewitnesses.
Peters announced that USDOT had granted Minnesota US$5 million the day following the collapse. On August 10, Peters announced an additional US$5 million "for Minneapolis", or "the state", "to reimburse Minneapolis for increased transit operations to serve commuters in the wake of last week’s bridge collapse". U.S. Congress
removed the US$100 million per-incident cap on emergency appropriations. The United States House of Representatives
and United States Senate
each voted unanimously for US$250 million in emergency funding for Minnesota that President Bush signed into law on August 6. On August 10, 2007 Peters announced US$50 million in immediate emergency relief. The Associated Press
clarified that the US$50 million was a downpayment on the US$250 million that has yet to be approved by appropriations committees. Minnesota could use the immediate relief for "clean-up and recovery work, including clearing debris and re-routing traffic, as well as for design work on a new bridge". "On behalf of Minnesota, we are grateful for all of this help," Pawlenty said.
The National Transportation Safety Board
immediately began a comprehensive investigation, which was expected to take up to eighteen months to complete. Immediately following the collapse Governor Pawlenty and MnDOT announced that the Illinois-based engineering firm of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
had also been selected to provide essential analysis that would parallel the investigation being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board
. One week after the collapse, debris and vehicles were just beginning to be moved to further the process of recovering victims. Cameras and motion detectors were added to the site around the bridge to ward off intruders, whom officials said were hindering the investigation. Hennepin County Sheriff Richard W. Stanek stated, "We are treating this as a crime scene
at this point. There's no indication there was any foul play involved, [but] it's a crime scene until we can determine what was the cause of the collapse."
An employee of the NTSB had written his doctoral thesis on possible failure scenarios of this specific bridge while he was a student at the nearby University of Minnesota. That thesis, including his computer model of the bridge for failure mode analysis
, was used by the NTSB to aid in their investigation. The Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA) built a computer model of the bridge at the Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia
. NTSB investigators were particularly interested in learning why a part of the bridge's southern end shifted eastward as it collapsed, but soon ruled that out as a starting point, and shifted focus to the north end of the structure.
Officials with DHS said there was no indication that terrorism
was involved. Although officials emphasized that the cause of the collapse had not yet been determined, Peters cautioned states to "remain mindful of the extra weight construction projects place on bridges." Within days, bridge inspections were stepped up throughout the United States.
FHWA advised states to inspect the 700 U.S. bridges of similar construction after a possible design flaw in the bridge was discovered, related to large steel sheets called gusset plate
s which were used to connect girder
s together in the truss structure. Officials expressed concern about many other bridges in the United States sharing the same design and raised questions as to why such a flaw would not have been discovered in over 40 years of inspections. This flaw was first discovered by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
, an independent consulting firm hired by MnDOT to investigate the cause of the collapse.
On January 15, 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board announced they had determined that the bridge's design specified steel gusset plates that were undersized and inadequate to support the intended load of the bridge, a load which had increased over time. This assertion was made based on an interim report which calculated the Demand to Capacity ratio for the gusset plates. The NTSB recommended that similar bridge designs be reviewed for this problem.
On March 17, 2008, the NTSB announced an update on the investigation. The announcement gave updates in the areas of load capacity, design issues, computer analysis and modeling, digital image analysis, and analysis of the undersized and corroded gusset plates. The investigation revealed that photos from a June 2003 inspection of the bridge showed gusset plate bowing.
On November 13, 2008, the NTSB released the findings of its investigation. The primary cause was the under-sized gusset plates, at 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) thick. Contributing to that design or construction error was the fact that 2 inches (50.8 mm) of concrete were added to the road surface over the years, increasing the dead load by 20%. Also contributing was the extraordinary weight of construction equipment and material resting on the bridge just above its weakest point at the time of the collapse. That load was estimated at 578000 pounds (262,176.4 kg) consisting of sand, water, and vehicles. The NTSB determined that corrosion was not a significant factor, but that inspectors did not routinely check that safety features were functional.
As of 1 August 2011, the lawsuit brought by the state of Minnesota against Jacobs Engineering, the successor of Sverdrup & Parcel
, the firm that designed the bridge, was still pending. The lawsuit brought by URS Corporation against Jacobs Engineering, was defeated at the Minnesota Court of Appeals
in August 2010.
The collapse of the bridge affected river, rail, road, bicycle and pedestrian, and air transit. Pool 1, created by Ford Dam, was closed to river navigation between mile markers 847 and 854.5. A rail spur switched by the Minnesota Commercial Railway
was blocked by the collapse. The Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway
bike path
was disrupted as well as two roads, West River Parkway and 2nd Street SE. The 10th Avenue Bridge, which parallels this bridge about a block downstream, was closed to both vehicle and pedestrian traffic until August 31. The Federal Aviation Administration
restricted pilots in the 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) radius of the rescue and recovery.
Thirty-five people lost their jobs when Aggregate Industries of Leicestershire
, UK, a company that delivered construction materials by barge, cut production in the area.
Small businesses in metropolitan area counties that were harmed by the bridge collapse could apply beginning August 27, 2007 for loans of up to US$1.5 million at 4% interest over up to 30 years from the U.S. Small Business Administration
. The agency's disaster declaration for Hennepin and contiguous counties came two days after Pawlenty's request to the SBA on August 20, 2007. Open for business and unsure they could repay loans, owners near the collapse in some cases lost 25% or 50% of their income. Large retailers in a mall of chain stores lost about the same. As of early January 2008, at least one business closed, one announced it was closing, seven of eight SBA applications had not been approved and merchants continued to explain how they are unable to shoulder more debt.
Seventy percent of the traffic served by the bridge was downtown-bound. Mn/DOT published detour information, and made real-time traffic information available for callers to 5-1-1
. The designated alternate route in the area was Trunk Highway 280
, which was converted to a temporary freeway with all at-grade
access points closed. Other traffic was diverted to Interstates 694
, 494
, and 35E
. The number of lanes was increased on several of the highways by repainting traffic lines to eliminate wide shoulders, and by widening various "choke-points".
Extra Metro Transit
buses were added from park-and-ride
locations in the northern suburbs during the rush hours. Abandoned vehicles on I-35W and 280 were towed immediately. On August 6, I-35W was opened to local traffic at the access ramps on each side of the missing section; some on-ramps remained closed.
In the aftermath, pressure was exerted on the state legislature to increase the state fuel tax
to provide adequate maintenance funding for Mn/DOT. Ultimately the tax was increased by $0.055 per gallon via an override of Governor Pawlenty's veto of the legislation.
The Minnesota Twins
chose to play their home game as scheduled, against the Kansas City Royals
at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
just west of I-35W, on the evening of the accident. Public safety officials told the team that postponing the game could hamper rescue and recovery efforts, since a postponement would send up to 25,000 people back into traffic only blocks from the collapsed bridge. Before the game, a moment of silence
was held for the victims of the collapse. The Twins did postpone their August 2 game as well as the traditional groundbreaking
ceremonies for Target Field
also located in downtown Minneapolis.
The collapse was of interest to national and international news organizations. On the evening of the collapse, CNN
, MSNBC
, and Fox News Channel
stayed live with its coverage during the overnight hours, along with local stations WCCO-AM
(830) and KSTP (1500), with most of the coverage in the opening hours coming via satellite from Twin Cities news operations WCCO-TV
, KSTP-TV
, KMSP-TV
, KARE-TV and Minnesota Public Radio
. National TV networks sent CBS
anchor Katie Couric
, NBC
's Brian Williams
and Matt Lauer
, MSNBC
's Contessa Brewer
, ABC
's Charlie Gibson, CNN
's Soledad O'Brien
and Anderson Cooper
, and Fox News' Greta Van Susteren
and Shepard Smith
to broadcast from the Twin Cities.
U.S. news organizations interested in national and local bridge safety made a record number of requests for bridge information from Investigative Reporters and Editors, an organization which maintains several databases of federal information. News media made more inquiries for National Bridge Inventory data in the first 24 hours after the Minneapolis bridge collapse than for any previous data in the past 20 years.
to declare the city of Minneapolis and Hennepin County a major disaster area. About two weeks later, Pawlenty requested major disaster designation on August 20. In a subsequent press release for a separate disaster declaration that month, he said, "Ordinarily, preliminary damage assessments are completed before the emergency disaster declaration is requested." During a press conference and briefing with Bush at the Minneapolis/St.Paul Air Reserve Station base for the 934th Airlift Wing
on Tuesday, August 21, Pawlenty estimated the total cost of emergency response at over US$8 million including Hennepin County's cost at US$7.3 million for rescue and recovery and US$1.2 million for other state agencies. He estimated the cost of the collapse to the state at US$400,000 to US$1 million per day.
That day, Bush gave an emergency rather than major disaster declaration for the state of Minnesota, allowing local and state agencies to recover costs incurred August 1 to August 15 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA). FEMA can provide payment as required for emergency protective measures (part of FEMA Category B) at no less than 75% federal funding to Hennepin County, the designated county, up to the initial limit of US$5 million. Pawlenty planned to ask that the date restriction and monetary cap be lifted. FEMA aid can compensate the county for the saving of lives, protection of public safety and health, and lessening damage to improved property, but not for the disaster-related needs of the victims nor for removing debris and restoration of the bridge and riverfront nor many other categories of needs.
.
Mn/DOT announced on September 19, 2007, that Flatiron Constructors and Manson Construction Company would build the replacement bridge for USD $234 million. The I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge was opened to the public on September 18, 2008, at 5 a.m.
Truss arch bridge
A truss arch bridge combines the elements of the truss bridge and the arch bridge. The actual resolution of forces will depend upon the design. If no horizontal thrusting forces are generated this becomes an arch-shaped truss, essentially a bent beam — see moon bridge for an example...
that carried Interstate 35W
Interstate 35W (Minnesota)
Interstate 35W , is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Minnesota, passing through downtown Minneapolis. It is one of two through routes for Interstate 35 through the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the other being Interstate 35E through downtown Saint Paul...
across the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. During the evening rush hour
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...
on August 1, 2007, it suddenly collapsed
Catastrophic failure
A catastrophic failure is a sudden and total failure of some system from which recovery is impossible. Catastrophic failures often lead to cascading systems failure....
, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The bridge was Minnesota's fifth busiest, carrying 140,000 vehicles daily. The NTSB
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
cited a design flaw as the likely cause of the collapse, and asserted that additional weight on the bridge at the time of the collapse contributed to the catastrophic failure.
Immediately after the collapse, help came from mutual aid
Mutual aid (emergency services)
In emergency services, mutual aid is an agreement among emergency responders to lend assistance across jurisdictional boundaries. This may occur due to an emergency response that exceeds local resources, such as a disaster or a multiple-alarm fire. Mutual aid may be ad hoc, requested only when...
in the seven-county Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
and emergency response personnel, charities, and volunteers. Within a few days of the collapse, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) planned a replacement bridge, the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge. Construction was completed rapidly, and it opened on September 18, 2008.
Location and site history
Downtown East, Minneapolis
Downtown East is an official neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States part of the larger Central community. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River to the north, Interstate 35W to the east, 5th Street South to the south, and Portland Avenue to the west. It is bounded by the Downtown...
and Marcy-Holmes. The south abutment was northeast of the Metrodome
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, commonly called the Metrodome, is a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Opened in 1982, it replaced Metropolitan Stadium, which was on the current site of the Mall of America in Bloomington and Memorial Stadium on the University...
, and the north abutment was northwest of the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
East Bank campus. The bridge was the southeastern boundary of the "Mississippi Mile" downtown riverfront parkland.
Downstream is the 10th Avenue Bridge, once known as the Cedar Avenue Bridge. Immediately upstream is the lock and dam at Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. The natural falls was replaced by a concrete overflow spillway after it partially collapsed in 1869...
, where Minneapolis began. The first bridge upstream is the historic Stone Arch Bridge, built for the Great Northern Railway and now used for bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
The north foundation pier of the bridge was near a hydroelectric plant, razed in 1988. The south abutment was in an area polluted by a coal-to-gas
Coal gas
Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made by the destructive distillation of coal containing a variety of calorific gases including hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and volatile hydrocarbons together with small quantities of non-calorific gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen...
processing plant and a facility for storing and processing petroleum products. These uses effectively created a toxic waste site under the bridge, leading to a lawsuit and the removal of the contaminated soil. No relationship between these prior uses and the bridge failure has been claimed.
Design and construction
Sverdrup & Parcel
Sverdrup & Parcel was an American civil engineering company formed in 1928 by Leif J. Sverdrup and his college engineering professor John I. Parcel. The company worked primarily in a specialty field of bridges. Many of the company's projects were located in the St...
to 1961 AASHO (American Association of State Highway Officials, now American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
AASHTO, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols and guidelines which are used in highway design and construction throughout the United States...
) standard specifications. The construction contracts, worth in total more than US$5.2 million at the time, went to Hurcon Inc. and Industrial Construction Company, which built the steel trusses and deck. Construction began in 1964 and the bridge opened to traffic in 1967.
The bridge's fourteen spans extended 1,907 feet (580 m) long. The three main spans were of deck truss
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
construction while all but two of the eleven approach spans were steel multi-girder
Girder bridge
A girder bridge, in general, is a bridge built of girders placed on bridge abutments and foundation piers. In turn, a bridge deck is built on top of the girders in order to carry traffic. There are several different subtypes of girder bridges:...
construction, the two exceptions being concrete slab
Concrete slab
A concrete slab is a common structural element of modern buildings. Horizontal slabs of steel reinforced concrete, typically between 10 and 50 centimeters thick, are most often used to construct floors and ceilings, while thinner slabs are also used for exterior paving.In many domestic and...
construction. The piers
Deep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
were not built in the navigation channel; instead, the center span of the bridge consisted of a single 458-foot (140 m) steel arched truss over the 390-foot (119 m) channel. The two support piers for the main trusses, each with two load-bearing concrete pylons at either side of the center main span, were located on opposite banks of the river. The center span was connected to the north and south approaches by shorter spans formed by the same main trusses. Each was 266 feet (81 m) in length, and was connected to the approach spans by a 38 foot (11.6 m) cantilever
Cantilever
A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
. The two main trusses, one on either side, ranged in depth from 60 feet (18.3 m) above their pier and concrete pylon supports, to 36 feet (11 m) at midspan on the central span and 30 feet (9 m) deep at the outer ends of the adjoining spans. At the top of the main trusses were the deck trusses, 12 feet (3.6 m) in depth and integral with the main trusses. The transverse deck beams, part of the deck truss, rested on top of the main trusses. These deck beams supported longitudinal deck stringers 27 inches (69 cm) in depth, and reinforced-concrete pavement. The deck was 113 ft 4 (34.5 m) in breadth and was split longitudinally. It had transverse expansion joints at the centers and ends of each of the three main spans. The roadway deck was approximately 115 feet (35 m) above the water level.
Construction on the bridge began in 1964 and the structure was completed in 1967 during an era of large-scale projects related to building the Twin Cities freeway system. When the bridge fell, it was still the most recent river crossing built on a new site in Minneapolis. After the building boom ebbed during the 1970s, infrastructure management shifted toward inspection and maintenance.
Black ice prevention system
On December 19, 1985, the temperature reached -30 °F. Cars coming across the bridge experienced black ice and there was a massive pile up on the bridge on the northbound side.In February and in December 1996, the bridge was identified as the single most treacherous cold-weather spot in the Twin Cities freeway system, because of the almost frictionless thin layer of black ice
Black ice
Black ice, sometimes called glare ice or clear ice, refers to a thin coating of glazed ice on a surface.While not truly black, it is virtually transparent, allowing black asphalt/macadam roadways to be seen through it, hence the term "black ice"...
that regularly formed when temperatures dropped to 30s Fahrenheit (4 °C to -1 °C) and below. The bridge's proximity to Saint Anthony Falls contributed significantly to the icing problem and the site was noted for frequent spinouts and collisions. By January 1999, Mn/DOT began testing magnesium chloride
Magnesium chloride
Magnesium chloride is the name for the chemical compounds with the formulas MgCl2 and its various hydrates MgCl2x. These salts are typical ionic halides, being highly soluble in water. The hydrated magnesium chloride can be extracted from brine or sea water...
solutions and a mixture of magnesium chloride and a corn-processing byproduct to see whether either would reduce the black ice that appeared on the bridge during the winter months. In October 1999, the state embedded temperature-activated nozzles in the bridge deck to spray the bridge with potassium acetate
Potassium acetate
Potassium acetate is the potassium salt of acetic acid.-Preparation:It can be prepared by reacting a potassium-containing base such as potassium hydroxide or potassium carbonate with acetic acid:...
solution to keep the area free of winter black ice. The system came into operation in 2000. It has been raised as a possibility that the potassium acetate may have contributed to the collapse of the 35W bridge.
Maintenance and inspection
According to a 2001 study by the civil engineering department of the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, cracking had been previously discovered in the cross girders at the end of the approach spans. The main trusses connected to these cross girders and resistance to motion at the connection point bearings was leading to unanticipated out-of-plane distortion of the cross girders and subsequent stress cracking. The situation was addressed prior to the study by drilling the cracks to prevent further propagation and adding support struts to the cross girder to prevent further distortion. The report also noted a concern about lack of redundancy in the main truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
system, which meant the bridge had a greater risk of collapse in the event of any single structural failure. Although the report concluded that the bridge should not have any problems with fatigue cracking
Fatigue (material)
'In materials science, fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading. The nominal maximum stress values are less than the ultimate tensile stress limit, and may be below the yield stress limit of the material.Fatigue occurs...
in the foreseeable future, the bridge instrumentation by strain gauges and continuous structural health monitoring
Structural health monitoring
The process of implementing a damage detection and characterization strategy for engineering structures is referred to as Structural Health Monitoring . Here damage is defined as changes to the material and/or geometric properties of a structural system, including changes to the boundary conditions...
had been suggested.
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
National Bridge Inventory
National Bridge Inventory
The National Bridge Inventory is a database, compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, with information on all bridges and tunnels in the United States that have roads passing above or below. This is similar to the grade crossing identifier number database compiled by the Federal Railroad...
database. Problems were noted in two subsequent inspection reports. The inspection carried out June 15, 2006 found problems of cracking and fatigue. On August 2, 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty
Tim Pawlenty
Timothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...
stated that the bridge had been scheduled to be replaced in 2020.
The I-35W bridge ranked near the bottom of federal inspection ratings nationwide. The scale used was a "sufficiency rating" which ranges from the highest score, 100, to the lowest score, zero. In 2005 the bridge was given a rating of 50, indicating that replacement may have been in order. Out of over 100,000 heavily used bridges, only about 4% scored below 50. On a separate measure, the I-35W bridge was rated "structurally deficient," but was deemed to have met "minimum tolerable limits to be left in place as it is."
In December 2006, a steel reinforcement project was planned for the bridge. However, the project was canceled in January 2007 in favor of periodic safety inspections, after it was revealed that drilling for the retrofitting would in fact weaken the bridge. In internal Mn/DOT documents, bridge officials talked about the possibility of the bridge collapsing and worried that it might have to be condemned.
The construction taking place in the weeks prior to the collapse included joint work and replacing lighting, concrete and guard rail
Guard rail
Guard rail or guardrail, sometimes referred to as guide rail or railing, is a system designed to keep people or vehicles from straying into dangerous or off-limits areas...
s. At the time of the collapse, four of the eight lanes were closed for resurfacing, and there were 575,000 pounds (261,000 kg) of construction supplies and equipment on the bridge.
Collapse
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...
bridge traffic moving slowly through the limited number of lanes, the central span of the bridge suddenly gave way, followed by the adjoining spans. The structure and deck collapsed into the river and onto the riverbanks below, the south part toppling 81 feet (25 m) eastward in the process. Approximately 100 vehicles were involved, sending their occupants and 18 construction workers up to 115 feet (35 m) down to the river or onto its banks. Northern sections fell into a rail yard
Rail yard
A rail yard, or railroad yard, is a complex series of railroad tracks for storing, sorting, or loading/unloading, railroad cars and/or locomotives. Railroad yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock stored off the mainline, so that they do not obstruct the flow of traffic....
, landing on three unoccupied and stationary freight train
Freight train
A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
cars.
Sequential images of the collapse were taken by an outdoor security camera
Closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....
located at the parking lot entrance of the control facility for the Lower Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. The natural falls was replaced by a concrete overflow spillway after it partially collapsed in 1869...
Lock and Dam. The immediate aftermath of the collapse was also captured by a Mn/DOT traffic camera
Traffic camera
A traffic camera is a video camera which observes vehicular traffic on a road. Typically, these are put along major roads such as highways, freeways, motorways, autoroutes and expressways, as well as arterial roads, and are connected with optical fibers buried alongside or even under the road,...
that was facing away from the bridge during the collapse itself.
Mayor R. T. Rybak
R. T. Rybak
Raymond Thomas Rybak, Jr. , known as R. T. Rybak, is the 46th and current mayor of the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the 2001 election Rybak defeated incumbent Sharon Sayles Belton by a margin of 65% to 35%; the widest margin in city history for a challenge to an incumbent...
and Governor Tim Pawlenty
Tim Pawlenty
Timothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...
declared a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
for the city of Minneapolis and for the state of Minnesota on August 2, 2007. Rybak's declaration was approved and extended indefinitely by the Minneapolis City Council
Minneapolis City Council
The Minneapolis City Council is the governing body of the City of Minneapolis. The City Council is composed of 13 single member districts, called wards. Barbara Johnson is president of the council. The council is dominated by members of the DFL Party with 12 members. The Green Party has one member...
the next day. As of the morning following the collapse, according to White House Press Secretary
White House Press Secretary
The White House Press Secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the government administration....
Tony Snow
Tony Snow
Robert Anthony "Tony" Snow was an American journalist, political commentator, television news anchor, syndicated columnist, radio host, musician, and the third White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush. Snow also worked for President George H. W. Bush as chief speechwriter and...
, Minnesota had not requested a federal disaster declaration. President Bush pledged support during a visit to the site on August 4 with Minnesota elected officials and announced that United States Secretary of Transportation
United States Secretary of Transportation
The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fourteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Transportation on October 15, 1966,...
(USDOT) Mary Peters
Mary Peters (politician)
Mary E. Peters served as the United States Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. She is the second woman to hold the position.-Public service career:...
would lead the rebuilding effort. Rybak and Pawlenty gave the president detailed requests for aid during a closed-door meeting. Local authorities were assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) evidence team, and by United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
divers who began arriving on August 5, 2007.
Victims
Only a few of the vehicles were submerged, but many people were stranded on the collapsed sections of the bridge. Several involved vehicles caught fire, including a semi-truck, from which its driver's body was later pulled. When fire crews arrived they had to route hoses from several blocks away.A school bus
School bus
A school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
carrying 60 children ended up resting precariously against the guardrail of the collapsed structure, near the burning semi-trailer truck. The children were returning from a field trip
Field trip
A field trip or excursion, known as school trip in the UK and school tour in Ireland, is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment...
to a water park
Water park
A waterpark is an amusement park that features waterplay areas, such as water slides, splash pads, spraygrounds , lazy rivers, or other recreational bathing, swimming, and barefooting environments...
as part of the Waite House Neighborhood Center Day Camp based out of the Phillips community
Phillips, Minneapolis
Phillips is a community in Minneapolis, just south of downtown. It is one of the most diverse and culturally-rich communities in Minnesota. Traditionally, it was both a community and a neighborhood . In other words, the Phillips community only contained one neighborhood, also called Phillips...
. Jeremy Hernandez, a 20-year-old staff member on the bus, assisted many of the children by kicking out the rear emergency exit and escorting or carrying them to safety. One youth worker was severely injured.
Thirteen people were killed. Triage centers at the ends of the bridge routed 50 victims to area hospitals, some in trucks, as ambulances were in short supply. Many of the injured had blunt trauma injuries. Those near the south end were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center
Hennepin County Medical Center
Hennepin County Medical Center is a Level I trauma center based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the county seat of Hennepin County. The primary 422-bed facility is located on five city blocks across the street from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, with satellite clinics in Minneapolis, Brooklyn...
(HCMC)—those near the north end, to the Fairview-University Medical Center and other hospitals. At least 22 children were injured. Thirteen children were treated at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is one of the largest children’s health care organization in the U.S.A, with 326 staffed beds at its two hospital campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis...
, five at HCMC and four or five at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota
Robbinsdale, Minnesota
Robbinsdale is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,953 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
. During the first 40 hours, 11 area hospitals treated 98 victims.
About 1,400 people gathered for an interfaith
Interfaith
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels...
service of healing held at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Minneapolis
Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis, Minnesota is one of two cathedrals in the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota. It was built as a parish church overlooking Loring Park in 1910...
on August 5, 2007, when many of the victims were still missing. Among the presenters were representatives of the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Native American and Hispanic communities, police, fire and emergency responders, the governor, the mayor, a choir and several musicians. Minnesotans held a minute of silence during National Night Out
National Night Out
National Night Out is a community-police awareness-raising event in the US, held the first Tuesday of August....
, on August 7, 2007, at 6:05 pm. On August 8, 2007, the Twin Cities chapter of the American Red Cross lowered the flags of the United States, the state of Minnesota and the American Red Cross in remembrance of the victims of the tragedy. Gold Medal Park
Gold Medal Park
Gold Medal Park is a park next to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Designed by landscape architect Tom Oslund, the park is owned by the city of Minneapolis and opened in May 2007. It takes its inspiration from the Dakota Indians burial mounds that are found through Minnesota...
near the Guthrie Theater
Guthrie Theater
The Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the result of the desire of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler to create a resident acting company that would produce and perform the classics in...
was a gathering place for those who wished to leave flowers or remembrances for those who died. During an address to the city council on August 15, 2007, Rybak remembered each of the victims and "the details of their lives."
The families of the deceased, the survivors, and the first responders who were directly impacted by the bridge collapse—together estimated to be at least several hundred people—did not have United States disaster assistance for individuals. Sandy Vargas, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Foundation, one of seven foundations that form Minnesota Helps, believes the Minnesota Helps Bridge Disaster Fund cannot cover the uninsured medical costs for the victims of the bridge collapse. The fund may be able to make small grants as a gesture of acknowledgment.
Pawlenty and his office, during the last week of November, announced a "$1 million plan" for the victims. State law has limits that may limit awards to below that amount. No legislative action was needed for this step. "The administration wanted approval from the Joint House-Senate Subcommittee on Claims as a sign of bipartisan support" which it received.
On May 2, 2008, the state of Minnesota reached a $38 million agreement to compensate victims of the bridge collapse.
Rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
through the night, but by the next morning, they had shifted their focus to the recovery of bodies, with several vehicles known to be trapped under the debris and several people still unaccounted for. Twenty divers organized by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) used side-scan sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
to locate vehicles submerged in the murky water. Their efforts were hampered by debris and challenging currents. The United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
(USACE) lowered the river level by two feet (60 cm) downriver at Ford Dam
Lock and Dam No. 1, Mississippi River
Ford Dam, officially known as Lock and Dam No. 1 is on the Upper Mississippi River and is located between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota just north of the confluence of the Mississippi with the Minnesota River...
to allow easier access to vehicles in the water. Carl Bolander & Sons, a Saint Paul-based earthworks and demolition company, brought in several cranes and other heavy machinery to assist in clearing debris for rescue workers.
Minneapolis Fire Department
The Minneapolis Fire Department also known as MFD and M.F.D. is the fire department for the city of Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota, United States...
(MFD) created the National Incident Management System
National Incident Management System
The National Incident Management System is emergency management doctrine used nationwide to coordinate emergency preparedness and incident management and response among the public and private sectors.NIMS is a comprehensive, national approach to incident management that is applicable at all...
command center in the parking lot of the American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
and an adjacent printing company on the west bank. The Minneapolis Police Department
Minneapolis Police Department
The Minneapolis Police Department is the police department for the city of Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Formed in 1867, it is the second oldest police department in the state of Minnesota, after the Saint Paul Police Department . A short-lived Board of Police Commissioners existed...
(MPD) secured the area, MFD managed the ground operations, and HCSO was in charge of the water operation. The city provided 75 firefighters and 75 law enforcement units.
Rescue of victims stranded on the bridge was complete in three hours. "We had a state bridge, in a county river, between two banks of a city. ... But we didn't have one problem with any of these issues, because we knew who was in charge of the assets," said Rocco Forte, city Emergency Preparedness Director. City, metropolitan area, county and state employees at all levels knew their roles and had practiced them since the city received FEMA
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
emergency management training the year following 9/11. Their rapid response time is also credited to the Minnesota and United States Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
(DHS) investment in 800 MHz mobile radio communications that was operating in Minneapolis and three of the responding counties, the city of Minneapolis collapsed-structures rescue and dive team, and the Emergency Operations Center established at 6:20 p.m. in Minneapolis City Hall
Minneapolis City Hall
Minneapolis City Hall and Hennepin County Courthouse , designed by Long and Kees in 1888, is the main building used by the city government of Minneapolis, Minnesota as well as by Hennepin County, Minnesota...
.
Recovery
Side-scan sonar
Side-scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea floor...
and two submarines. Not waiting for daybreak, the Navy team was in the water at 2 a.m. The FBI teams had planned to search with an unmanned submarine, but had to abandon this plan after it was found to be too big to maneuver in the debris field and cloudy water. Minneapolis Police Captain Mike Martin stated that "The public safety divers are trained up to a level where they can kind of pick the low-hanging fruit. They can do the stuff that's easy. The bodies that are in the areas where they can sweep shore to shore, the vehicles that they can get into and search that weren't crushed. They were able to remove some of those. Now what we're looking at is the vehicles that are under the bridge deck and the structural pieces."
Anoka County, Minnesota
Anoka County is the fourth-most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county is bordered by the counties of Isanti on the north, Chisago and Washington on the east, Hennepin and Ramsey on the south, Sherburne on the west, and the Mississippi River on the southwest.As of 2010, Anoka...
, Carver
Carver County, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 70,205 people, 24,356 households, and 18,778 families residing in the county. The population density was 197 people per square mile . There were 24,883 housing units at an average density of 70 per square mile...
, Dakota
Dakota County, Minnesota
Dakota County is the third most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county is bordered by the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers on the north, and the state of Wisconsin on the east. Dakota County comprises the southeast portion of seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul, the thirteenth...
, Hennepin
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Hennepin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. As of 2010 the population was 1,152,425. Its county seat is Minneapolis. It is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live...
, Olmsted
Olmsted County, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 124,277 people, 47,807 households, and 32,317 families residing in the county. The population density was 190 people per square mile . There were 49,422 housing units at an average density of 76 per square mile...
, Ramsey
Ramsey County, Minnesota
Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849. As of 2010, the population was 508,640. Its county seat is St. Paul, which is also Minnesota's state capital. The county is named for Alexander Ramsey , the first governor of the Minnesota Territory...
, Scott
Scott County, Minnesota
Scott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was organized in 1853 and named in honor of General Winfield Scott. As of 2010, the population was 129,928. Its county seat is Shakopee...
, Washington
Washington County, Minnesota
Washington County is a county established in 1849 in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 238,136. Its county seat is Stillwater.-History:...
, Winona
Winona County, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,985 people, 18,744 households, and 11,696 families residing in the county. The population density was 80 people per square mile . There were 19,551 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile...
and Wright
Wright County, Minnesota
Wright County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1855. As of 2010, the population was 124,700. Its county seat is Buffalo.-History:...
in Minnesota and St. Croix County, Wisconsin
St. Croix County, Wisconsin
St. Croix County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2010, the population was 84,345. Its county seat is Hudson. St. Croix County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Statistical Area . It is the fastest growing county in Wisconsin.-Geography:According to the U.S...
, St. Croix EMS & Rescue Dive Team, and others standing by. Federal assistance came from the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
, DHS, USACE and the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
. Adventure Divers of Minot, North Dakota
Minot, North Dakota
Minot is a city located in north central North Dakota in the United States. It is most widely known for the Air Force base located approximately 15 miles north of the city. With a population of 40,888 at the 2010 census, Minot is the fourth largest city in the state...
is a private firm who assisted local authorities.
Local businesses donated wireless Internet, ice, drinks and meals for first responders.
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
canteens served food and water to rescue workers. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is an organization started by Billy Graham in 1950. The main focus of the BGEA is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible...
provided chaplains. A Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...
transport helicopter was standing by at Flying Cloud Airport
Flying Cloud Airport
Flying Cloud Airport is a public airport located in the city of Eden Prairie in Hennepin County, Minnesota, about 11 miles southwest of the central business district of Minneapolis. The airport covers and has three runways....
. The Minnesota National Guard
Minnesota National Guard
The Minnesota National Guard is composed of approximately 14,000 soldiers of the Minnesota Army National Guard and Airmen of the Minnesota Air National Guard, serving in 63 communities across the state. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal...
launched a MEDEVAC helicopter and had up to 10,000 guard members ready to help.
As of August 8, 2007, more than 500 Red Cross volunteers and staff persons counseled 2,000 people with grief, trauma, missing persons, and medical issues, and served 7,000 meals to first responders. Donations totalling US$138,368 and received during the catastrophe covered the cost of Red Cross services but about $65,000 in unexpected expenses were not covered.
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
to remove the collapsed bridge and demolish the remaining spans that did not fall. Divers left the water briefly on August 18 while the company's crew used crane
Crane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
s, excavation drills and cutting torches to remove parts of the bridge deck, beams and girders hoping to improve access for the divers. After the last person's remains were pulled from the wreckage on August 21, the company's crews began dismantling the bridge's remnants. Crews first removed the vehicles stranded on the bridge. By August 18, 80 of the 88 stranded cars and trucks had been moved to the MPD impound lot where owners could claim their vehicles. Then workers shifted to removing the bridge deck using cranes and excavator
Excavator
Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, stick, bucket and cab on a rotating platform . The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. A cable-operated excavator uses winches and steel ropes to accomplish the movements. They are a natural progression from the...
s equipped with hoe rams to break the concrete. Structural steel was then disassembled by cranes, and the concrete piers were removed by excavators. NTSB officials asked demolition crews to use extreme care in removing the bridge remnants to preserve as much of the bridge materials as possible. By the end of October 2007, the demolition operation was substantially complete, enabling construction to begin on the new I-35W bridge on November 1, 2007. Much of the bridge debris was temporarily stored at the nearby Bohemian Flats
Bohemian Flats
Bohemian Flats, also known as Little Bohemia, is the informal name given a residential area of what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota. The area was the low lying river terrace on west bank of the Mississippi River, a short distance southeast of St. Anthony Falls. About the time Minneapolis was...
as part of the ongoing investigation of the collapse; it was removed to a storage facility in Afton, Minnesota
Afton, Minnesota
Afton is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,886 at the 2010 census. It is located on a small bay where Valley Creek empties into the St. Croix River several miles north of the confluence with the Mississippi River....
in the fall of 2010. Federal officials plan to bring some of the bridge steel and concrete to the NTSB Material Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
for analysis into determining the cause of the collapse on behalf of FHWA, Mn/DOT and Progressive Construction, Inc. NTSB also interviewed eyewitnesses.
Peters announced that USDOT had granted Minnesota US$5 million the day following the collapse. On August 10, Peters announced an additional US$5 million "for Minneapolis", or "the state", "to reimburse Minneapolis for increased transit operations to serve commuters in the wake of last week’s bridge collapse". U.S. Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
removed the US$100 million per-incident cap on emergency appropriations. The United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
each voted unanimously for US$250 million in emergency funding for Minnesota that President Bush signed into law on August 6. On August 10, 2007 Peters announced US$50 million in immediate emergency relief. The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
clarified that the US$50 million was a downpayment on the US$250 million that has yet to be approved by appropriations committees. Minnesota could use the immediate relief for "clean-up and recovery work, including clearing debris and re-routing traffic, as well as for design work on a new bridge". "On behalf of Minnesota, we are grateful for all of this help," Pawlenty said.
Investigation
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
immediately began a comprehensive investigation, which was expected to take up to eighteen months to complete. Immediately following the collapse Governor Pawlenty and MnDOT announced that the Illinois-based engineering firm of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. is an American corporation of architects, engineers, and materials scientists specializing in the investigation, analysis, testing, and design of repairs for historic and contemporary buildings and structures...
had also been selected to provide essential analysis that would parallel the investigation being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
. One week after the collapse, debris and vehicles were just beginning to be moved to further the process of recovering victims. Cameras and motion detectors were added to the site around the bridge to ward off intruders, whom officials said were hindering the investigation. Hennepin County Sheriff Richard W. Stanek stated, "We are treating this as a crime scene
Crime scene
A crime scene is a location where an illegal act took place, and comprises the area from which most of the physical evidence is retrieved by trained law enforcement personnel, crime scene investigators or in rare circumstances, forensic scientists....
at this point. There's no indication there was any foul play involved, [but] it's a crime scene until we can determine what was the cause of the collapse."
An employee of the NTSB had written his doctoral thesis on possible failure scenarios of this specific bridge while he was a student at the nearby University of Minnesota. That thesis, including his computer model of the bridge for failure mode analysis
Failure mode and effects analysis
A failure modes and effects analysis is a procedure in product development and operations management for analysis of potential failure modes within a system for classification by the severity and likelihood of the failures...
, was used by the NTSB to aid in their investigation. The Federal Highway Administration
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...
(FHWA) built a computer model of the bridge at the Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia
McLean, Virginia
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
. NTSB investigators were particularly interested in learning why a part of the bridge's southern end shifted eastward as it collapsed, but soon ruled that out as a starting point, and shifted focus to the north end of the structure.
Officials with DHS said there was no indication that terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
was involved. Although officials emphasized that the cause of the collapse had not yet been determined, Peters cautioned states to "remain mindful of the extra weight construction projects place on bridges." Within days, bridge inspections were stepped up throughout the United States.
FHWA advised states to inspect the 700 U.S. bridges of similar construction after a possible design flaw in the bridge was discovered, related to large steel sheets called gusset plate
Gusset plate
Gusset plates are thick sheets of steel that are used to connect beams and girders to columns or to connect truss members . A gusset plate can be fastened to a permanent member either by bolts, rivets or welding or a combination of the three . Gusset plates not only serve as a method of joining...
s which were used to connect girder
Girder
A girder is a support beam used in construction. Girders often have an I-beam cross section for strength, but may also have a box shape, Z shape or other forms. Girder is the term used to denote the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams...
s together in the truss structure. Officials expressed concern about many other bridges in the United States sharing the same design and raised questions as to why such a flaw would not have been discovered in over 40 years of inspections. This flaw was first discovered by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. is an American corporation of architects, engineers, and materials scientists specializing in the investigation, analysis, testing, and design of repairs for historic and contemporary buildings and structures...
, an independent consulting firm hired by MnDOT to investigate the cause of the collapse.
On January 15, 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board announced they had determined that the bridge's design specified steel gusset plates that were undersized and inadequate to support the intended load of the bridge, a load which had increased over time. This assertion was made based on an interim report which calculated the Demand to Capacity ratio for the gusset plates. The NTSB recommended that similar bridge designs be reviewed for this problem.
"Although the Board's investigation is still on-going and no determination of probable cause has been reached, interim findings in the investigation have revealed a safety issue that warrants attention," said NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker. "During the wreckage recovery, investigators discovered that gusset plates at eight different joint locations in the main center span were fractured. The Board, with assistance from the FHWA, conducted a thorough review of the design of the bridge, with an emphasis on the design of the gusset plates. This review discovered that the original design process of the I-35W bridge led to a serious error in sizing some of the gusset plates in the main truss."
On March 17, 2008, the NTSB announced an update on the investigation. The announcement gave updates in the areas of load capacity, design issues, computer analysis and modeling, digital image analysis, and analysis of the undersized and corroded gusset plates. The investigation revealed that photos from a June 2003 inspection of the bridge showed gusset plate bowing.
On November 13, 2008, the NTSB released the findings of its investigation. The primary cause was the under-sized gusset plates, at 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) thick. Contributing to that design or construction error was the fact that 2 inches (50.8 mm) of concrete were added to the road surface over the years, increasing the dead load by 20%. Also contributing was the extraordinary weight of construction equipment and material resting on the bridge just above its weakest point at the time of the collapse. That load was estimated at 578000 pounds (262,176.4 kg) consisting of sand, water, and vehicles. The NTSB determined that corrosion was not a significant factor, but that inspectors did not routinely check that safety features were functional.
Lawsuits
In August 2010, the last of the lawsuits against URS Corporation were settled for $52.4M to avoid prolonged litigation. The cases were handled via a novel consortium of legal entities that worked on a pro-bono basis.As of 1 August 2011, the lawsuit brought by the state of Minnesota against Jacobs Engineering, the successor of Sverdrup & Parcel
Sverdrup & Parcel
Sverdrup & Parcel was an American civil engineering company formed in 1928 by Leif J. Sverdrup and his college engineering professor John I. Parcel. The company worked primarily in a specialty field of bridges. Many of the company's projects were located in the St...
, the firm that designed the bridge, was still pending. The lawsuit brought by URS Corporation against Jacobs Engineering, was defeated at the Minnesota Court of Appeals
Minnesota Court of Appeals
The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Minnesota. It began operating on November 1, 1983. It is housed in the Minnesota Judicial Center in St...
in August 2010.
Impacts on business, traffic, and transportation funding
Minnesota Commercial Railway
The Minnesota Commercial Railway is a short line railroad in the United States.This railroad operates out of the St. Paul area with service to Minneapolis, Bayport, Hugo, Fridley and New Brighton. It is considered a terminal and switching line. It is based out of a roundhouse on Cleveland Ave. in...
was blocked by the collapse. The Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway
Grand Rounds Scenic Byway
The Grand Rounds Scenic Byway is a linked series of park areas in Minneapolis, Minnesota that takes a roughly circular path through the city. The corridors include roads for automobile traffic plus paths for pedestrians and bicycles, and extend slightly into neighboring cities...
bike path
Segregated cycle facilities
Segregated cycle facilities are marked lanes, tracks, shoulders and paths designated for use by cyclists from which motorised traffic is generally excluded...
was disrupted as well as two roads, West River Parkway and 2nd Street SE. The 10th Avenue Bridge, which parallels this bridge about a block downstream, was closed to both vehicle and pedestrian traffic until August 31. The Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
restricted pilots in the 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) radius of the rescue and recovery.
Thirty-five people lost their jobs when Aggregate Industries of Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, UK, a company that delivered construction materials by barge, cut production in the area.
Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses...
. The agency's disaster declaration for Hennepin and contiguous counties came two days after Pawlenty's request to the SBA on August 20, 2007. Open for business and unsure they could repay loans, owners near the collapse in some cases lost 25% or 50% of their income. Large retailers in a mall of chain stores lost about the same. As of early January 2008, at least one business closed, one announced it was closing, seven of eight SBA applications had not been approved and merchants continued to explain how they are unable to shoulder more debt.
Seventy percent of the traffic served by the bridge was downtown-bound. Mn/DOT published detour information, and made real-time traffic information available for callers to 5-1-1
5-1-1
5-1-1, initially designated for road weather information, is a transportation and traffic information telephone hotline in some regions of the United States and Canada. Travelers can dial the three-digit telephone number 5-1-1 on traditional landline telephones and most mobile phones. It is an N11...
. The designated alternate route in the area was Trunk Highway 280
Minnesota State Highway 280
Minnesota State Highway 280 is a highway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, which runs from its interchange with Interstate 94 in Saint Paul and continues north to its interchange with Interstate 35W in Roseville...
, which was converted to a temporary freeway with all at-grade
At-grade intersection
An at-grade intersection is a junction at which two or more transport axes cross at the same level .-Traffic management:With areas of high or fast traffic, an at-grade intersection normally requires a traffic control device such as a stop sign, traffic light or railway signal to manage conflicting...
access points closed. Other traffic was diverted to Interstates 694
Interstate 694
Interstate 694 is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway located in the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The western terminus of the route is at its junction with Interstate 94 and Interstate 494 in Maple Grove...
, 494
Interstate 494
Interstate 494 is a loop route making up part of a beltway of Interstate 94, circling through the southern and western portions of the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota...
, and 35E
Interstate 35E (Minnesota)
Interstate 35E is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Minnesota, passing through downtown Saint Paul. It is one of two through routes for Interstate 35 through the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the other being Interstate 35W through Minneapolis. Thus, both ends of I-35E are...
. The number of lanes was increased on several of the highways by repainting traffic lines to eliminate wide shoulders, and by widening various "choke-points".
Extra Metro Transit
Metro Transit (Minnesota)
Metro Transit is the transit division of the Metropolitan Council, a regional governmental agency in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Metro Transit is the largest operator of bus services in the seven-county region surrounding Minneapolis and St...
buses were added from park-and-ride
Park and ride
Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
locations in the northern suburbs during the rush hours. Abandoned vehicles on I-35W and 280 were towed immediately. On August 6, I-35W was opened to local traffic at the access ramps on each side of the missing section; some on-ramps remained closed.
In the aftermath, pressure was exerted on the state legislature to increase the state fuel tax
Fuel tax
A fuel tax is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. In most countries the fuel tax is imposed on fuels which are intended for transportation...
to provide adequate maintenance funding for Mn/DOT. Ultimately the tax was increased by $0.055 per gallon via an override of Governor Pawlenty's veto of the legislation.
Public events and media
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
chose to play their home game as scheduled, against the Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, commonly called the Metrodome, is a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Opened in 1982, it replaced Metropolitan Stadium, which was on the current site of the Mall of America in Bloomington and Memorial Stadium on the University...
just west of I-35W, on the evening of the accident. Public safety officials told the team that postponing the game could hamper rescue and recovery efforts, since a postponement would send up to 25,000 people back into traffic only blocks from the collapsed bridge. Before the game, a moment of silence
Moment of silence
A moment of silence is the expression for a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of respect, particularly in mourning for those who have recently died or as part of a commemoration ceremony...
was held for the victims of the collapse. The Twins did postpone their August 2 game as well as the traditional groundbreaking
Groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and...
ceremonies for Target Field
Target Field
Target Field is a baseball park located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the home ballpark of the Minnesota Twins, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It is the franchise's sixth ballpark and third in Minnesota. The Twins moved to Target Field for the 2010 Major League Baseball...
also located in downtown Minneapolis.
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, and Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
stayed live with its coverage during the overnight hours, along with local stations WCCO-AM
WCCO-AM
WCCO is a radio station located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. The station broadcasts on a clear-channel frequency and is owned by CBS Radio. The station's studios are located in downtown Minneapolis, while its transmitter is located in Coon Rapids, Minnesota.With 50,000 watts of power, WCCO's...
(830) and KSTP (1500), with most of the coverage in the opening hours coming via satellite from Twin Cities news operations WCCO-TV
WCCO-TV
WCCO-TV, is the CBS owned and operated television station that serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. Its transmitter is at the Telefarm complex in Shoreview, Minnesota.- History :...
, KSTP-TV
KSTP-TV
KSTP-TV, channel 5, is the ABC affiliate for the Twin Cities. Its transmitter is located at the Shoreview Telefarm. It is the flagship station of Hubbard Broadcasting, which also owns several other broadcasting properties across the United States....
, KMSP-TV
KMSP-TV
KMSP-TV, channel 9, is the Fox-owned-and-operated television station serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota designated market area, owned in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WFTC...
, KARE-TV and Minnesota Public Radio
Minnesota Public Radio
Minnesota Public Radio , is the flagship National Public Radio member network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, Classical Music and The Current, MPR operates a 42-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest serving over 8 million people...
. National TV networks sent CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
anchor Katie Couric
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
and Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's Contessa Brewer
Contessa Brewer
Contessa Brewer is an American host for the MSNBC weekend program Caught on Camera.-Biography:Brewer was born in in Parsonsfield, Maine, and graduated from Sacopee Valley High School in Hiram, Maine in 1992. She graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Charlie Gibson, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's Soledad O'Brien
Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien is an American Broadcast journalist. She is currently the host of the "In America" documentary unit on CNN, and is best known for anchoring the CNN marquee morning newscast American Morning from July 2003 to April 2007, with Miles O'Brien...
and Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...
, and Fox News' Greta Van Susteren
Greta Van Susteren
Greta Van Susteren is an American commentator and television personality on the Fox News Channel, where she hosts On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren...
and Shepard Smith
Shepard Smith
David Shepard Smith, Jr. , known better as Shepard Smith, is an American television news anchor. He is host of Fox Report with Shepard Smith and Studio B weekdays on Fox News Channel. In addition, he anchors the 5:00 p.m...
to broadcast from the Twin Cities.
U.S. news organizations interested in national and local bridge safety made a record number of requests for bridge information from Investigative Reporters and Editors, an organization which maintains several databases of federal information. News media made more inquiries for National Bridge Inventory data in the first 24 hours after the Minneapolis bridge collapse than for any previous data in the past 20 years.
Disaster declarations
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners voted on August 7, 2007 to request that Governor Pawlenty petition President George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to declare the city of Minneapolis and Hennepin County a major disaster area. About two weeks later, Pawlenty requested major disaster designation on August 20. In a subsequent press release for a separate disaster declaration that month, he said, "Ordinarily, preliminary damage assessments are completed before the emergency disaster declaration is requested." During a press conference and briefing with Bush at the Minneapolis/St.Paul Air Reserve Station base for the 934th Airlift Wing
934th Airlift Wing
The 934th Airlift Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of the Minneapolis-St Paul Joint Air Reserve Station, Minnesota.-Mission:...
on Tuesday, August 21, Pawlenty estimated the total cost of emergency response at over US$8 million including Hennepin County's cost at US$7.3 million for rescue and recovery and US$1.2 million for other state agencies. He estimated the cost of the collapse to the state at US$400,000 to US$1 million per day.
That day, Bush gave an emergency rather than major disaster declaration for the state of Minnesota, allowing local and state agencies to recover costs incurred August 1 to August 15 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
(FEMA). FEMA can provide payment as required for emergency protective measures (part of FEMA Category B) at no less than 75% federal funding to Hennepin County, the designated county, up to the initial limit of US$5 million. Pawlenty planned to ask that the date restriction and monetary cap be lifted. FEMA aid can compensate the county for the saving of lives, protection of public safety and health, and lessening damage to improved property, but not for the disaster-related needs of the victims nor for removing debris and restoration of the bridge and riverfront nor many other categories of needs.
Replacement bridge
The replacement of the collapsed I-35W Mississippi River bridge crosses the Mississippi River at the same location as the original bridge, and carries north-south traffic on Interstate Highway 35W. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule, because of the highway's function as a vital link for carrying commuters and truck freightTruck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
.
Mn/DOT announced on September 19, 2007, that Flatiron Constructors and Manson Construction Company would build the replacement bridge for USD $234 million. The I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge was opened to the public on September 18, 2008, at 5 a.m.
See also
- List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
- List of bridge disasters
- Minnesota State Highway 280Minnesota State Highway 280Minnesota State Highway 280 is a highway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, which runs from its interchange with Interstate 94 in Saint Paul and continues north to its interchange with Interstate 35W in Roseville...
(Mn/DOT'sMinnesota Department of TransportationThe Minnesota Department of Transportation oversees transportation by land, water, and air in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The cabinet-level agency is responsible for maintaining the state's trunk highway system The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT, pronounced "min-dot") oversees...
designated detour route for I-35W)
Further reading
- Patrick Nunnally, ed. The City, the River, The Bridge: Before and After the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse (University of Minnesota Press; 2011) 183 pages; studies by civil engineers, geographers, and others on the events and aftermath of the collapse of the bridge
- Minmao Liao, Taichiro Okazaki. "A Computational Study of the I-35W Bridge Collapse." (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies; 2009) Report.
External links
- Interstate 35W Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota Department of Transportation
- Scientific perspectives on the collapse — from the Science Museum of Minnesota
- Minnesota Historical Society: 35W Bridge Resources
- U.S. Bridge Information - New AASHTO Bridge Information Web Site
- NTSB Docket Management System for Bridge Collapse Investigation Documents
- Radio breaking news and coverage (airchecks) of the 35W bridge collapse From radiotapes.com.
- OxBlue Construction Camera and time-lapse footage of reconstruction
- 13 Seconds in August-- A project by the Star Tribune
- Twin Cities radio breaking news airchecks/recordings of the 35W Bridge Collapse.