Chunk of concrete falls off walk bridge in St. Cloud

Home
Local

Chunk of concrete falls off walk bridge in St. Cloud

Updated: July 1, 2012 - 8:50 PM

9
comments
resize text
print
buy reprints

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

A pedestrian bridge that connects sections of St. Cloud State University remained closed on Sunday, a day after a 20-foot-long sliver of concrete broke off and fell onto the road below, authorities reported.

According to St. Cloud police, the concrete fall was reported just before 9 p.m. Saturday. No people or vehicles were hit by the concrete.

University Drive was closed from 5th Avenue S. to Kilian Boulevard for a few hours, police said. It was reopened on Sunday, but the pedestrian bridge remains closed, said Steven Ludwig, vice president for administration at SCSU.

Ludwig said he does not know how long the bridge, which is about 27 years old, will remain closed.

The structure, which connects a parking lot to the school's main gym, handles thousands of students when full classes are in session, he said. It has no stairs, but is simply a walkway over a depressed portion of University Drive.

The piece that fell was about 20 feet long and 2 or 3 inches thick, he said. It appeared that corrosion on the metal reinforcement caused the concrete to give way, he said.

The bridge, about 10 feet wide and 60 feet long, is owned by the city, which is likely to do a full inspection before it is reopened, Ludwig said. He said no previous problems with the bridge have been reported.

HERÓN MÁRQUEZ ESTRADA