A bridge collapsed in Minnesota USA during rush hour on Wednesday, 1st of August 2007.

At least 9 people were confirmed killed, more than 60 injured and a dramatic pile of rubble is what remains between the Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA.
Rescue operations have been ended and attempts are being made to recover any missing dead bodies and about 50 vehicles which plunged into the river. Rescue operations have been toned down due to the darkness and poor lighting conditions so as not to risk the lives of rescuers.

The department for homeland security of the US government has declared no sign of terrorism, but rather some form of engineering failure. The bridge collapsed at about 7 pm local time.

Some guy just came on TV saying that there were no structural deffects as at the last inspection. na wa o! God help us

CNN still maintains that only 7 dead. Well, we'll see about that.

Anyway, there are more than 20 missing, possibly dead.

7 dead seems very unlikely as they said there were hundreds of cars on the bridge at the time of the incident.

angel101:

7 dead seems very unlikely as they said there were hundreds of cars on the bridge at the time of the incident.

Thats true, I heard the same thing!

@topic,

I guess the body count will increase once more bodies are recovered. It is so, so sad.

But in everything, there is always a miracle. A school bus with 60 students was also on the bridge when the incident took place. All 60 are fine with just about 6 treated for major wounds. They are all reconciled with their families already!

God is redistributing the disasters worldwide as witnessed daily in Iraq. This was the testimony given by John Stewart last weekend.

I hope they find it as entertaining as the Iraqi war has been.

denex, your injury and death tolls are far-fetched, and unofficial.
Just this morning alone, the death toll's been pushed back to 4.

You mean some of the dead are waking up? I love Yankee!

Lest I forget, about 30 people are missing. Missing my black butt! Where dem miss go? Dem disappear go Mars?

There's a miracle-working God  .  He's the Alpha and Omega, he's a miracle-working God.

k0be:

There's a miracle-working God . He's the Alpha and Omega, he's a miracle-working God.

sing it again

I thought it was only in NAIJA that one could hear cases of building/bridge collapse.
May the souls of the departed rest in peace, while we also pray for God to heal the
injured ones.

WASHINGTON - More than 70,000 bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient like the span that collapsed in Minneapolis, and engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 billion.

That works out to at least $9.4 billion a year over 20 years, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The bridges carry an average of more than 300 million vehicles a day.

It is unclear how many of the spans pose actual safety risks. Federal officials alerted the states late Thursday to immediately inspect all bridges similar to the Mississippi River span that collapsed.

In a separate cost estimate, the Federal Highway Administration has said addressing the backlog of needed bridge repairs would take at least $55 billion. That was five years ago, with expectations of more deficiencies to come.

It is money that Congress, the federal government and the states have so far been unable or unwilling to spend.

"We're not doing what the engineers are saying we need to be doing," said Gregory Cohen, president of the American Highway Users Alliance, an advocacy group representing a wide range of motorists.

"Unfortunately when you consistently underinvest in roads and bridges , this is the dangerous consequence," Cohen said of Wednesday's deadly Mississippi River bridge collapse in Minneapolis. He said engineers have estimated $75 billion a year is needed just to keep highways and bridges from further deterioration, but that only around $60 billion a year is being provided.

At least 73,533 of 607,363 bridges in the nation, or about 12 percent, were classified as "structurally deficient," including some built as recently as the early 1990s, according to 2006 statistics from the Federal Highway Administration.

The federal government provides 80 percent of the money for construction, repair and maintenance of the so-called federal-aid highway system including Interstate highways and bridges. But states set priorities and handle construction and maintenance contracts.

A bridge is typically judged structurally deficient if heavy trucks are banned from it or there are other weight restrictions, if it needs immediate work to stay open or if it is closed. In any case, such a bridge is considered in need of considerable maintenance, rehabilitation or even replacement.

Congressional leaders say the number of bridges in need of repair is too high and the funding too low.

There is crumbling infrastructure all over the country, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who heads the Senate panel that controls transportation spending, said the Bush administration has threatened vetoes when Democrats try to increase such spending.

White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel, accusing the Democrats of using the bridge collapse for partisan purposes, said Bush had increased funding for federal highways by about 30 percent during his administration. The president had threatened to veto legislation not over highway funding but because of billions of dollars in excess funding in other areas, Stanzel said.

Democrats were not alone in calling for more bridge funding.

"People think they're saving money by not investing in infrastructure, and the result is you have catastrophes like this," said Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wis., a member of the House transportation committee.

The federal government is now providing about $40 billion a year to improve and expand the nation's highways and bridges.

The main source of revenue for roads and bridges, the federal highway trust fund, is failing to keep up with spending demand. The 18.3 cents a gallon in federal taxes hasn't changed since 1993, and the demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles could affect fuel consumption.

Funding isn't the only issue getting attention after the Minnesota collapse.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in an interview with The Associated Press that she had asked her department's inspector general to evaluate the agency's overall bridge inspections.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, most bridges in the U.S. Highway Bridge Inventory — 83 percent — are inspected every two years. About 12 percent, those in bad shape, are inspected annually, and 5 percent, those in very good shape, every four years.

The Department of Transportation's inspector general last year criticized the Highway Administration's oversight of interstate bridges. The March 2006 report said investigators found incorrect or outdated maximum weight calculations and weight limit postings in the National Bridge Inventory and in states' bridge databases and said the problems could pose safety hazards. The Highway Administration agreed that improvements in its oversight of state bridge inspections and data were needed.

Incorrect load ratings could endanger bridges by allowing heavier vehicles to cross than should, and could affect whether a bridge is properly identified as structurally deficient in the first place, the inspector general said.

The audit didn't identify any Minnesota bridges or mention the state beyond noting that 3 percent of its bridges were structurally deficient, placing it at the low end among states. It said those bridges were crossed by an average of 30,000 to 40,000 vehicles a day, putting it 13th among the states.

An analysis of 2006 Federal Highway Administration data found that Minnesota bridges were generally in better shape than those in other states. Only about 6 percent of the state's 20,000 bridges were listed as being structurally deficient. In Oklahoma, nearly 27 percent of bridges were cited by the federal government as being structurally deficient, the highest percentage among the states.

Among counties with more than 100 bridges, the problem appears to be most significant in the Midwest. In Nemaha County in southeastern Nebraska, about 58 percent of 194 bridges are structurally deficient. More than 55 percent of neighboring Pawnee County's 188 bridges are in the same shape. Of the 10 worst-off counties with significant numbers of bridges, seven are in Oklahoma or Nebraska.

On the other end of the scale, at least 10 counties with a significant number of bridges have none that are structurally deficient, according to the latest government statistics. A half-dozen of those are in Texas.

Several governors on Wednesday ordered state transportation officials to inspect particular bridges or review their inspection procedures.

Beyond Minnesota, North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven said his state doesn't have any bridges similar to the Minneapolis bridge but he had asked state officials to review inspection procedures. Presidential hopeful and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ordered an inspection of several steel-truss bridges in the state. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano directed state transportation officials to conduct a statewide review, starting with highly traveled bridges in urban areas.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_re_us/bridge_safety

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My fellow nairalandrians, what do you reasen about this post?dont you think this a country where things are working?when will our government have plans like this for rehabilitating our infrastructure.when will our briges and transportaion systems rehabilitate.Because the incidence that leads to collapsed of Mississippi River bridge is worth to learn from by our government too because i have never heard any plans to rehabilitate our decades briges in existence.share your opinion and plans our government have to rehabilitate diffiency in our infrastructure espeically bridges.

heard the news really bad, sad and shocking.

I am surprised that such a thing can happen in "Heaven"

I don talk am say nothing dey dis yankee wey people dey run there anyhow.

nossycheek:

I am surprised that such a thing can happen in "Heaven"

Thank u oh! my sista!! If it happened in Naija now CNN no go allow us hear word again. They will dig up every disaster that has ever happened in Naija, how we are corrupt, our engineers are messed up and how our life expectancy is 35yrs on account of these. Sadly even our own people go join them dey run down d country.
 "Respect!!" to da deceased however. Rest in peace.

America is a funny land. They dont even have bridges that can sustain the traffic it is meant to sustain. Sheer incompetence; maybe some corrupt people have embezzled the funds meant for mainaining the bridge.

Americans are just too corrupt.
they are always sending scam emails and junk mails to try and make you part with your money.
Their business men are utterly corrupt.
Their politicians are boundlessly corrupt and take their corruption all around the world.
They destroy other lands with their foriegn policies and deception
They dont have good construction companies to build bridges.

may the soul of the dead rest in peace. heard the bridge was 70years old right?

May the souls of the departed rest in peace. Abeg make una tell una people for Lagos State Government say the bridge for Ogudu side when coming for the 3rd Mainland Bridge go soon collapse, because there is already a gap on the bridge.

nemesis has finally caught up wit d almighty America! hope America learns to stop playing GOD. however, may all the departed RIP.

i cant believe what i'm reading abi wetin de worry u guys, innocent peeps mud and u attribute it to nemesis.this isn't d time for insensitive or mindless misyannin.na act of GOD, freak accidents happen anywhere, irrespective of how developed the country is.what has innocent people dyin got to do with d mad man in d white house?

I am not surprised. No be person build am?

Damn! Just seen the pics, Those cars break strong oooooo!

Ralvy,

brake strong? haha

Its true now, See dis link;

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/02/bridge.infrastructure/index.html?iref=topnews

Some were even running up the bridge

This IS Sad

More Pics*

                               

pterygott:

nemesis has finally caught up wit d almighty America! hope America learns to stop playing GOD. however, may all the departed RIP.

God help you!!
so this is now call for you to go drink palmy?
wonders shall never cease

_{just make sure it's not half palmy half something else.}

May the souls of the departed rest in peace. Abeg make una tell una people for Lagos State Government say the bridge for Ogudu side when coming for the 3rd Mainland Bridge go soon collapse, because there is already a gap on the bridge.

The story's so painful that I didnt even read this,

nemesis has finally caught up wit d almighty America! hope America learns to stop playing GOD. however, may all the departed RIP.

What a comment

Abi o,what a comment!