Bridge Collapse Families Get Preview Of Memorial

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Family members of victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse will be given a private viewing for the victim's families Monday afternoon on the fourth anniversary of the collapse.

They will take the covers off of the pillars and remove the mesh, letting the family members take in the Remembrance Garden.

The garden is located on West River Parkway right across from Gold Medal Park, overlooking the Mississippi.

The entire memorial is 81 feet long to coincide with the date of the collapse: August 1.

Each of the 13 pillars is inscribed with the names of the people who died in the bridge collapse.

Along with their names, the families wrote a special message about their loved one.

Behind the pillars is a stone wall with water cascading down the face of it. The names of the survivors are sandblasted on the wall.

The memorial's architect Thomas Oslund says it was an honor to be asked to design the Remembrance Garden.

"It's a tall order to be asked to design something that can help people gain closure on such a significant event in this state's history," he said. "The intimacy of it and the kind of tactfulness of it brings out that emotion and closure."

Extending back from the stone wall is a walkway to an overlook of the Mississippi River.

The bridge is roughly one quarter-mile down the river, but it's somewhat hidden because of the trees.

On Monday evening, there will be a moment of silence following the dedication at 6:05 p.m., the time when the bridge came down.