Home | Local + Metro | The I-35W bridge collapse
First light paints the 35W bridge on the the opening day with the Minneapolis skyline.
Drivers and passengers waved at each other through windows and sunroofs as they cheered and snapped photos with cell phones and digital cameras.
Minnesota bridges rated: An interactive map of bridges that are "structurally deficient," "functionally obsolete" or have gusset plates like those on the I-35W bridge.
Ten minutes before 4 a.m. Thursday, Richard Kleinschmidt had second thoughts. His alarm clock had just gone off, and as a retiree, the north Minneapolis man didn't really have to get up if he didn't feel like it. But the new Interstate 35W bridge was calling. It was a call heard by hundreds of motorists who came for the predawn opening of the snazzy replacement for the bridge that fell last August. "It was a chance to be part of something," Kleinschmidt said. It really was something. Honking their horns and stirring up a haze of post-construction dust, drivers geared up a few minutes after 5 a.m. Kleinschmidt and some other motorcycle riders he didn't know ended up at the front of the pack at the north end of the bridge. It was a fitting picture. The American flag that he normally attached to his sailboat turned out to fit perfectly into a hole on the sidecar of his customized Suzuki. Ahead of him were large maintenance trucks from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, each with safety bumpers to keep drivers from getting ahead of the ceremony. In front of the trucks, ready to lead the way across the bridge, were vehicles from agencies that sent first responders on Aug. 1, 2007. Authorities didn't let drivers line up for the crossing until about 4:45 a.m. for fear of major backups. "On city streets they've been queuing up all night," said Lt. Mark Peterson of the State Patrol. At the signal, the two processions -- one from the south end of the bridge, one from the north -- started moving. Vehicles coming from the south were the first to make it across the 10-lane bridge, bathed in the bluish glow of its LED overhead lights. Drivers and passengers waved at each other through windows and sunroofs as they cheered and snapped photos with cell phones and digital cameras. The daily commuter
"I've been excited for this," said Puneet Vedi, of New Brighton. Not excited enough to get on the road before dawn, but a bit after 8 a.m., he joined the normal rush hour and headed to his job at a small architectural office near the south end of the bridge. Since the bridge collapse, Vedi's daily detour had taken him through the University of Minnesota campus and across the Washington Avenue Bridge. That added 15 minutes to his drive each way. "I've always been fascinated by bridges and roads," Vedi said. He had checked out the bridge from various vantage points. He likes the look of the bridge and the way the open railings offer better views of downtown. The new bridge is significantly wider than the old one, so many drivers spent their first crossings figuring out which lane they needed to be in. "It seems like I've come back to Minneapolis for the first time in many years," he said. Conquered fears Lola Kjenstad said last fall that she didn't want to cross the new bridge. She had made it across the old one just before it collapsed. But after a year of getting up an hour early and spending an extra 20 minutes in the car each way between her home in East Bethel and her job as a legal secretary in downtown Minneapolis, her fears faded. "As the time grows nearer, I've said, 'Oh, for silly. You're a grown woman,'" she said. "And now I'm getting excited. I'm just so glad it's done." As she crossed the bridge Thursday morning, a twinge of superstition and nerves had her biting down on the tip of her index finger until she exited at Washington Avenue. "I ruined my manicure,'' Kjenstad said. "What I didn't anticipate was how low that right railing was going to be. You could see right over it,'' she said. "I just wish it was a little bit higher. It's very disconcerting. I don't want to look at the water." But then she laughed at what she had just said and added, "I know the bridge is safe." Watching the construction of the bridge from 40 floors up in the office tower where she works, Kjenstad was pleased with the span's clean, simple lines. "I'm so happy it's back,'' she said. "It's getting life back to normal." But it may take time getting used to it all.
North end of bridge during opening. 
The new Interstate 35W St. Anthony Falls Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States was opened shortly after 5 AM today.  It replaces a bridge which collapsed last year, killing 13 people.

A fire engine and ambulance were first across on each side. In each direction, a line of State Highway Patrol cars was followed by a formation of Department of Transportation construction trucks. A cluster of awaiting vehicles went honking across for a few minutes, then traffic returned to the sparse levels more typical of the pre-dawn period.

The September 18 opening was well ahead of the scheduled December 24 goal, earning the contractor, Flatiron-Manson, up to $19.6 million in performance bonuses.

The bridge is 189 feet wide, with a main span length of 504 feet and a deck height of over 100 feet above the Mississippi River. Traffic is expected to return to previous levels of 141,000 vehicles per day on the 10 lanes. The accelerated construction (of only 11 months) was accomplished by pouring 120 concrete sections in heated pole barns, and then lifting them all into place via a crane mounted on a river barge. The bridge contains 323 electronic sensors for real-time monitoring of stresses and movement of the bridge components. It is illuminated with white light-emitting diodes.