Aug 2, 2007 12:01 am US/Eastern
Worst U.S. Bridge Disasters
WASHINGTON (CBS) ―
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On July 31, a highway overpass in Oroville, Calif., collapsed, crushing a delivery truck and seriously injuring a construction worker.
CBS
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In 2002, 14 people were killed when a barge hit a bridge in Webbers Falls, Okla., causing a 500-foot section to cave in.
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Eight people died when the Queen Isabella Causeway in Port Isabel, Texas, collapsed in September 2001.
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The Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse on May 9, 1980, in Tampa, Fla., was the deadliest of the past 30 years.
The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis is the latest of numerous bridge tragedies nationwide during the past three decades, reports CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago.
On July 31, a highway overpass in Oroville, Calif., collapsed, crushing a delivery truck and seriously injuring a construction worker who clung to a steel beam as it tumbled 50 feet to the ground.
Firefighters swarmed the FedEx delivery truck to cut its driver from underneath a large steel beam that crushed the hood but missed the cab. A second beam landed on the back of the truck.
Rescuers freed the driver, Robert Sylvester, 45, of Chico, about 2 1/2 hours after he was trapped. He suffered only a sprained ankle and minor cuts, his wife, Carol, told The Associated Press. The construction worker, Jeffrey Doll of Olivehurst, fractured his pelvis, left elbow and lower left leg when the beam he was on collapsed.
In 2002, 14 people were killed when a barge hit a bridge in Webbers Falls, Okla., forcing a 500-foot section to cave in.
Investigators said the barge operator, Joe Dedmon, 61, lost consciousness as he steered the tow toward the bridge. Authorities said Dedmon suffers from a heart condition that could have caused him to black out.
Fourteen people died in May 2002, when a 500 foot section of a bridge over the Arkansas River in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, collapsed after a barge hit it.
The Queen Isabella Causeway in Port Isabel, Texas collapsed in September 2001 after a tow boat captain lost control of a string of barges and currents drove them into a bridge support. Eight people died when their vehicles fell 85 feet into the channel.
A bridge on the New York State Thruway near Amsterdam, N.Y., gave way in April 1987, killing 10 people.
But the deadliest incident in the U.S. in the past 30 years occurred May 9, 1980, when 35 people were killed in the collapse of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, Florida. A ship hit the bridge during a storm.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Minneapolis Bridge Collapse Complete Coverage
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