Unbelievable.

HotAir has continuing coverage and more photos.

Here is what the bridge looked like (courtesy of Minneapolis Riverfront Bridges):

Bridge type: steel and concrete deck-arch truss bridge

Designed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, this bridge has a high water clearance and no mid-river piers in order to facilitate navigation of large vessels up to the two locks at St. Anthony Falls, which were opened four years earlier. The single cross-river arch has a span of 458 feet.

UPDATE: Here is a slideshow of amateur pictures taken at the scene. (Hat tip: The Spike) And Doug Ross has lots of “before” pictures of the bridge in question, too. Really gives you some perspective on the magnitude of this collapse.

UPDATE 2:
President Bush gets blamed in less than 24 hours. A new record.

UPDATE 3:
…and now it’s because of Iraq. Apparently there’s no money left to fix the problems… Note to nutroots: this bridge was deemed “structurally deficient” in 1990… long before Bush and Iraq were available to blame.

1. […] Here’s a picture, courtesy of Texas Rainmaker (who has more coverage) that shows the structure better. The central span is 140m wide, and was designed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. […]

   Pingback by The hyper-local blog reporter « the spike — 4:31 am
   

2. Wow. Lets hope some answers are found as to why this happened and hopefully it doesn’t happen again. In Quebec here an overpass collapsed last year as well. Piss poor maintenance doesnt pay.

   Comment by MrCynic1 — 11:20 am
   

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