Looking north at construction of the Interstate Hwy 35W bridge built in 1967.


I-35W bridge collapses; at least 6 dead: "Star Tribune staff

Kent Kobersteen, Minneapolis Tribune

The Interstate Hwy. 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed during the evening rush hour Wednesday, dumping an estimated 50 vehicles into the water and onto the land below, creating a horrific scene of damage, fire, smoke, injuries, frantic rescuers and bloody, terrified motorists"

My prayers go out to everyone... I had a scary wait as Carrie was over an hour late getting home due to the traffic snarl caused by this. I was not too worried because Carrie does not take the freeway but little did I know she was taking a co-worker home tonight and was just a mile or two away on Hi-way 94. I have crossed over this bridge at least a thousand times in my 39 yrs in Minneapolis. I once lived three blocks from the bridge!

Here is a Google map/diagram of the location. The bridge is just south of the blue 35W near the middle of the map. The white blob to the south west of the blue 35W is the Metrodome. The green arrow is near the center of downtown.

StarTribune photo gallery.

StarTribune diagram of bridge collapse.

update: They are now saying at least 60 injured with nine dead and with at least twenty more missing... rescue work has stopped for the night, tomorrow they start recovery. This will be a major traffic problem in the years too come being that there are few other express/freeway access points into Downtown Minneapolis. This is the same interstate that runs from Texas to Duluth, Mn. Life for all who live in the Twin Cities has changed to some degree.