I-35W Bridge Collapse Structure and Components and Initial Failure

I-35W Bridge Collapse
Minneapolis, Minnesota
August 1, 2007
HWY07MH024


Structure and Components
Animation Description/Disclaimer
This animation uses a three dimensional engineering model to demonstrate the various structural components of the deck truss portion of the bridge. This animation contains audio.

Initial Failure
Animation Description/Disclaimer
This animation uses a three dimensional engineering model to demonstrate the events causing the failure at node U10. The animation shows how the compression diagonal shifts, how the U10 node is pulled down through the diagonal, and how deformations developed in other structural members of the main truss. No attempt was made to precisely quantify the speed of this initial phase of the collapse process. This animation is shown twice. This animation does not contain audio.