I-35W Mississippi River bridge, Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge was a steel deck arch and truss structure that crossed the Mississippi in Minneapolis, carrying eight lanes of traffic. The structure measured approximately 35 meters high, 34 meters wide, and stretched about 581 meters in length.
The structure opened in 1967 and served as a major traffic link for forty years before collapsing during rush hour in August 2007. Engineers found that undersized steel connecting plates could no longer support the weight of traffic and construction equipment.
The collapse had a profound impact on national infrastructure discussions.
The site of the former crossing is accessible from the riverbank, where visitors can view a memorial garden with 13 steel columns. A new bridge opened in 2008 and now carries the main traffic flow in this location.
Divers discovered vehicles and debris buried in the riverbed after the collapse, with some wreckage recovered weeks later. Rescue crews worked continuously to locate the missing and assess the safety of nearby buildings.
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