Bridge Collapses Into Mississippi River

Updated 8/2 7:43 am: Now reporting 4 dead, 20 missing, 79 injured.
Video of bridge collapse here.

In Minneapolis there's an unfolding tragedy:

(WCCO) Minneapolis All four lanes of the Interstate 35W Mississippi River bridge near University Avenue has collapsed into the river and onto businesses
underneath the highway at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday.

There are multiple cars in the river and a couple cars on fire. According to one witness, there was a school bus full of children on the bridge.

According to reports from the scene, crews on the Mississippi River are no longer in rescue mode but recovery mode.Cars are still on the bridge.

There was no immediate word on injuries, but dozens of rescue vehicles were there. Divers were also in the water.

Tons of concrete have collapsed and people are injured. Survivors are being carried up the riverbank.

Some people are stranded on parts of the bridge that aren't completely in the water.

A tractor-trailer is still on fire at the collapse scene with plumes of smoke clouding the sky.

Our prayers go out to the victims and their families. This is going to be ugly. Captain Ed, who lives in the Twin Cities, is liveblogging the local reports. Powerline, also from Minneapolis, is also following the story.

We take so much for granted as we travel. We assume that as we head out over a bridge the bridge will stay strong and we'll travel safely to the other side. Sometimes, it doesn't happen that way.

My wife has always had what I considered an irrational fear of bridges. If I as much as wiggle the steering wheel while crossing a bridge, she tenses up big time (which is probably why I do it so often). I may have to ease off on that for awhile.

According to news reports some 140,000 vehicles a day cross that span. This collapse is going to mess up Minneapolis traffic for a long, long time.

A couple of early theories being bandied about:

1. Fatigue failure - probably the most likely source. Something finally gave in to gravity and wear and tear resulting in a cascading failure of the structure.

2. Scouring - this is the process in which water slowly erodes the footings of bridges like this until enough material is removed to destabilize the structure.

I think we sometimes forget that the moment we raise something from the surface of the earth, the earth tries to get it back. Gravity doesn't care who built it, what it was, or how majestic it looked in pictures. It wants it back. Add the effects of years of rain, snow, wind, sun, and the jostling caused by 140,000 vehicles a day, and gravity has a lot of help. It's a conspiracy to destroy the works of man, and for once, a conspiracy theory might actually pan out. (Note - the wacky left is already blaming this on Bush because funds spent in Iraq aren't being spent on bridges. Jeez.)

UPDATE: James Lileks, another Twin Cities resident, is also following the action at Buzz.mn. James adds this commentary:

Did you believe the news when you heard it? My wife called me to see where I was, and the words she said didn’t make sense. The brain has a curious response to these things – you understand exactly what you’ve just heard; you know all the words, and they were put in an order that formed a sentence, but surely you heard wrong.

What do you tell your kids? Mine was shaken by the news, because in the mind of a seven-year old, bridges don’t collapse. I imagine she’ll wonder about the other bridges we travel. She’s not alone.

What next? The disaster took out the ability to go straight through town from the south metro to the north - all that traffic will have to somewhere, and routing it through downtown or 280 will cause interminable delays for however long it takes to replace the bridge.

Any opinions on the media coverage? It's been good, as far as I can tell - serious and straight-forward. We don't know why yet, but why can wait.

Finally: Sixty children on the bus. Sixty children alive. There’s chance, and there’s miracles. Take your choice.