Let the investigations begin on this catastrophic tragedy: 9 Dead, 60 Injured, 20 Missing after Dozens of Vehicles Plummet into River… Interstate Bridge Collapses Into Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

An eight-lane highway bridge clogged with rush-hour traffic buckled and collapsed into the Mississippi River in central Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, pitching numerous vehicles into the roiling water below. At least seven people were killed and dozens were injured, authorities said.

Emergency officials said the toll could rise as rescuers, hampered by burning cars and hunks of broken roadway, scoured the debris-clogged river for survivors. The Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper reported that 20 people were still missing late Wednesday night, and that officials said efforts had switched from rescue to recovery.

Are we not paying close enough attention to our nation’s infrastructure? That’s the impression I get fom this:

Reports issued by the Minnesota Department of Transportation over the past decade have detailed problems with the bridge. In 1997, the department noted problems with the approach spans on both ends, including “cracks . . . in the cross girder at the end of the approach spans.” In a 2001 report, department engineers said that the bridge’s deck truss “has not experienced fatigue cracking, but it has many poor fatigue details on the main truss and floor truss system.”

But that report concluded that the bridge “should not have any problems with fatigue cracking in the foreseeable future.” As a result, they wrote, the department “does not need to prematurely replace this bridge because of fatigue cracking, avoiding the high costs associated with such a large project.”

Jay Danz, of St. Paul, Minnesota told the Minnesota Star Tribune that he “was driving to the Minnesota Twins baseball game on a parkway beneath the structure when he heard the bridge “creaking and making all sorts of noise it shouldn’t make.”"

“And then the bridge just started to fall apart,” he said.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board traveled to Minneapolis last night to determine why the bridge collapsed, Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said. About 140,000 vehicles a day pass over the bridge, which connects two sides of Minneapolis, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. It is near the city’s business district and the University of Minnesota.

“It’s obviously a catastrophic collapse,” Rosenker said, adding that he had no details about why the accident occurred. “We are calling in bridge experts from across the country.”

An astounding side story to this tragedy from blogger Noah Kunin on Blanked Out who reported soon after the collapse that part of the bridge came down on his warehouse apt building.

There’s a photo gallery on the Star Tribune… h/t to the sky blue waters report.

The Star Tribune reported that “Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued a statement Wednesday night saying there was no indication of terrorism.” Michelle Malkin seemed a little bummed out about that:

Isn’t it too early to say anything meaningful about what it “appears” to be? Couldn’t they maybe, I dunno, say nothing until they actually know something?

Another Twin City area blogger, Ed Morrissey of Captain’s Quarters also weighed in here on the disaster and notes in his last update: “KSTP has a former transportation secretary saying that 40-50% of the bridges here in Minnesota have significant deficiencies.”

What a mess. Prayers go out to those who have lost a loved one and those waiting on word from the missing. Perhaps this disaster could have been averted… we may know in time.

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