A Minnesota bridge that almost collapsed under heavy rains has been demolished

Advertisement

Advertise with us

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Contractors on Wednesday blew up the remnants of a damaged southern Minnesota bridge that almost collapsed last summer after a bout of heavy rain that prompted a federal emergency declaration for the area near Mankato.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/02/2025 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Contractors on Wednesday blew up the remnants of a damaged southern Minnesota bridge that almost collapsed last summer after a bout of heavy rain that prompted a federal emergency declaration for the area near Mankato.

Explosives were used to destroy the beams of County Road 9 Bridge, Blue Earth County officials said in a Facebook post. Video shows synchronized blasts followed by eruptions of billowing black and beige clouds as huge sections of the bridge crashed into the frozen Blue Earth River below.

County commissioners last year voted to replace the bridge and remove the nearby Rapidan Dam, both of which were at risk of crumbling after last year’s deluge. Residents had used the roughly 40-year-old bridge to commute across the dam from rural patches of land to nearby towns. Officials anticipate a yearslong rebuilding process.

The river’s water levels rose dramatically in late June and early July after heavy rain pummeled the Midwest for days. While the structures held up in the end, floodwaters forged a new river channel around the dam and cut deeply into a steep riverbank, toppling utility poles, wrecking a substation, swallowing a home and forcing the removal of a beloved store.

Mankato is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Minneapolis.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Woman who fled abuse decries lack of consequences for landlord who breached lease-breaking confidentiality

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

Woman who fled abuse decries lack of consequences for landlord who breached lease-breaking confidentiality

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

The provincial government is being asked to penalize landlords who breach the confidentiality of tenants breaking a lease to flee domestic violence after a survivor discovered there’s no consequences now.

“It put me in a very difficult situation,” said the woman, who was stunned to see that her landlord copied her abuser in email correspondence, including the domestic violence certificate she obtained to end a tenancy agreement early and leave an abusive relationship.

“My heart dropped to my stomach — I was in disbelief,” she said, recalling the confidentiality breach that occurred in 2025.

“I’m very lucky to be in a situation where it’s no longer a threat to my immediate safety.”

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

Gillingham promises to make north Main revitalization a second-term priority

Joyanne Pursaga 3 minute read Preview

Gillingham promises to make north Main revitalization a second-term priority

Joyanne Pursaga 3 minute read 6:19 PM CDT

Scott Gillingham says he will work to “reset and renew” north Main Street, if he wins a second term as mayor.

The incumbent candidate promised Tuesday to devise a long-term plan to rejuvenate that section of the thoroughfare, noting it has recently suffered from decay.

“It has a rich history, a deep and proud history. But the last couple of years, to say it’s been underperforming would be an understatement…. So many stretches of Main Street here, I see derelict buildings, boarded-up businesses, piles of rubble after fires that sit waiting to be cleaned up,” Gillingham said.

“We can disrupt what is going on and turn the tide on north Main Street.”

Read
6:19 PM CDT

Former private-school teacher jailed nine months for luring after sending messages declaring love for teen

Dean Pritchard 4 minute read Preview

Former private-school teacher jailed nine months for luring after sending messages declaring love for teen

Dean Pritchard 4 minute read Yesterday at 5:06 PM CDT

A former Catholic school teacher who sent inappropriate romantic messages to a teenage student, professing his love for her, has been sentenced to nine months in jail.

Read
Yesterday at 5:06 PM CDT

Hydro board members visit First Nation communities to discuss damage from past developments

Free Press staff 3 minute read Preview

Hydro board members visit First Nation communities to discuss damage from past developments

Free Press staff 3 minute read 1:18 PM CDT

Members of the Manitoba Hydro board visited Misipawistik Cree Nation and Chemawawin Cree Nation last week to learn more about the impacts of the Grand Rapids Generating Station and strengthen relationships with communities affected by hydroelectric development.

The two-day visit included spending time at culturally significant sites and discussions with leadership and community members, and a tour of generating stations and Grand Rapids fish hatchery, a Manitoba Hydro news release said.

The visit is part of Manitoba Hydro’s ongoing engagement with Indigenous communities affected by hydroelectric development, the release said. In 2024, the Manitoba Hydro board visited Gillam and met with First Nations that partner in the Keeyask Generating Station.

Last week’s visit to Misipawistik and Chemawawin came just weeks after the Federal Court on Sept. 3 ordered Ottawa pay Opaskwayak Cree Nation $27 million over damages suffered due to the construction of the Grand Rapids hydro dam in the 1960s.

Read
1:18 PM CDT

‘Wild, wild summer’: storms produce all-time number of damage claims at MPI

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Preview

‘Wild, wild summer’: storms produce all-time number of damage claims at MPI

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read 6:34 PM CDT

More than 40,000 storm-related claims have been opened with Manitoba Public Insurance stemming from summer storms, marking a historic high.

The June 9 storm in Winnipeg and the surrounding area drove a record-setting volume, making it the largest single claim event in MPI’s history.

The data is still rolling in, but the losses from the weather are likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to MPI’s vice-president and chief claims officer John Bowering.

“In my career here a storm in 5,000 to 10,000 (claims) was considered a major storm… so to have a single storm at 34,000 and a summer where we’re going to exceed 40,000 is monumental and quite hard to wrap my head around,” he said Tuesday.

Read
6:34 PM CDT

Decorated business vet Spiring announced as NSL Winnipeg president

Grace Anne Paizen 5 minute read Preview

Decorated business vet Spiring announced as NSL Winnipeg president

Grace Anne Paizen 5 minute read Updated: 12:30 PM CDT

Manitoba’s own Dayna Spiring is no stranger to the sports world, but her latest venture into the world of football — this time of the kick-about variety — is a whole new ball game.

“I’m getting up to speed on that as quickly as I can,” Spiring told the Free Press Tuesday, shortly after the accomplished business leader was announced as Northern Super League Winnipeg’s president.

Spiring joins an already stacked roster on the first women’s professional sports team in the Keystone province alongside the likes of NSL Winnipeg’s decorated co-founders Desiree Scott and Rob Gale.

And her own stats sheet is just as historic. Spiring was one of the first women to serve on the CFL’s Board of Governors and was the first woman to serve as chair of the Winnipeg Football Club’s board of directors. She is also the first woman to have her name engraved on the Grey Cup when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers captured back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2021.

Read
Updated: 12:30 PM CDT