Bridge Collapses Not Uncommon

While not as common as plane crashes or trail derailments, bridge collapses like the one last night in Minnesota have occured at least six times in the past 40 years and have lead to fatalities.

Here's a list of a few;

May 26, 2002- Webbers Falls, Oklahoma- A barge strikes a bridge carrying Interstate 40 over the Arkansas River in rural Oklahoma leading the bridge to collapse, killing 14 people.

September 15, 2001- Port Isabel, Texas- The Queen Isabella Causeway, the only bridge connecting popular South Padre Island with mainland Texas near Brownsville collapses after being rammed into by four loaded barges. Eight people died.

April 5, 1987- Amsterdam, New York- The Schoharie Creek bridge carrying 1-90, the New York State Thruway over the flooded Schoharie Creek collapses, killing 10 and cutting off the main route between Buffalo and Albany.

June 28, 1983- Greenwich, Connecticut- The Mianus River bridge carrying 1-95, the Connecticut Turnpike collapses due to fatigue killing 3 people.

May 9, 1980- Tampa Bay, Florida- A ship crashes into the busy Sunshine Skyway Bridge, spanning the mouth of Tampa Bay and the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, in a thunderstorm. A Miami-bound Greyhound bus and numerous cars fall over 100 feet into the bay, killing 35 people.

December 15, 1967- Point Pleasant, West Virginia- The Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio River connecting Point Pleasant with Kanauga, Ohio, collapses while choked with rush hour traffic, killing 46 people. The collapse happened only a month after the 1-35W bridge in Minneapolis opened. The disaster inspired the book and movie The Mothman Prophecies