The city of Minneapolis in 2007 suffered one of the most serious bridge collapses in the US, but implemented corrective measures for 13 months.
This is not the first serious bridge collapse in the US. 17 years ago, the city of Minneapolis in Minnesota witnessed a similar tragedy.
The moment the container ship collapsed on the bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, USA on March 26. Video: Reuters
On August 1, 8, while cars were lining up during the evening rush hour on the I-2007W federal highway in Minneapolis, the 35-lane bridge over the Mississippi River suddenly collapsed, killing 8 people. killed and 13 injured. The cause of the disaster is believed to be due to design errors and poor maintenance of the bridge.
In addition to human losses and immediate damage, the collapse of the I-35W interstate highway bridge also cut off the vital traffic axis connecting the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. This bridge, located about 30 meters above the river level, was where about 140.000 cars passed each day before the incident occurred.
At the time of the tragedy, many people worried that traffic in the area would become chaotic when the I-35W bridge no longer existed. Construction engineer David Levinson, a former University of Minnesota professor who studied the I-35W bridge, said other bridges in the area can only accommodate a maximum of 90.000 additional vehicles per day.
To fix it, in the following days, the Minnesota Department of Transportation converted the sidewalks of major roads and interstate highways into traffic lanes, helping vehicles move faster.
Serious congestion did not occur as predicted and it took US officials only 13 months to build a new replacement bridge.
The city of Minneapolis, famous for its many lakes and bridges, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation also immediately inspected bridges across the state and launched a program to repair and replace any bridges with unstable structures. within 10 years.
The bridge collapse was initially estimated to cost the Minnesota economy about $113.000 per day. Five months after the bridge collapsed, a number of small businesses closed their stores citing a decrease in customers.
Until the replacement bridge was built and opened in September 9, losses from the bridge collapse were reported at $2008 million in 17 and $2007 million in 43.
The scene of the collapse of the I-35W interstate highway bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota in August 8. Image: MinnPost
The US government also acted quickly, declaring the bridge collapse a federal disaster, allowing affected businesses to receive low-interest loans.
The House and Senate unanimously approved $250 million in emergency funding for Minnesota and the bill was signed into law by then-President George W. Bush on August 6, 8, a few days after the bridge collapsed.
By mid-September, more than a month after the incident, the Minnesota Department of Transportation hired a company to design and build a replacement bridge at an estimated cost of $9 million.
The new bridge named Saint Anthony Falls I-35W was inaugurated in mid-September 9, faster and at a lower cost than expected, considered an incredible change compared to many infrastructure standards. floor.
In a 2011 study published in the journal Transportation Planning and Technology, Levinson and professor Feng about 9.500 USD-17.500 USD per day.
“The benefit-cost ratio is about 2.0-9.0, showing that these projects bring high economic benefits,” Levinson and Xie said.
“The economic impact of the bridge collapse is lower than what people initially feared. The ability to adapt to disasters is almost instantaneous,” Christopher Phelan, professor of economics at the University of Minnesota, said of the incident.
On the evening of March 26, after the bridge collapse in Baltimore occurred, the Saint Anthony Falls Bridge was lit up in the colors of the Maryland state flag. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz vowed to provide all necessary resources and experience to help Maryland overcome the tragedy.
The Saint Anthony Falls I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis lit up the colors of the Maryland state flag on the evening of March 26. Image: WMAR
The cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge is estimated to be up to $600 million, according to analysis firm IMPLAN. Total losses due to the port closure in Baltimore city for one month could be at $28 million.
Traffic flow through the Francis Scott Key Bridge is only about 22% that of the I-35W bridge, but much longer. In addition, the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge also caused the port of Baltimore, the 9th busiest port in the US, to close.
“That will last until salvage companies can clean up the scene. It may take them weeks or months to reopen traffic on the river and ensure ships continue to dock at Baltimore," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of logistics technology company Flexport.
Immediately after the bridge collapse in Baltimore, Levinson hoped state and federal authorities would pay attention to the vulnerabilities of America's critical infrastructure system, which is aging after decades of construction.
“I think this tragedy is not the last. We need to think about how to combat those things,” he said.
Thanh Tam (Follow CNN, Reuters)
