KTKA

The people of Minneapolis came together today in solemn memory today.

At an inter-faith ceremony today, hundreds offered their prayers for the 13 people who lost their lives in the Minneapolis bridge collapse. Another 145 people were hurt.

At 6:05 p.m. one year ago today, Interstate 35-W, packed with cars, fell into the Mississippi River in a matter of seconds.

The catastrophe quickly became a sobering symbol of the nation's aging infrastructure, but federal funds designated to keep the country's roads and bridges in working condition are disappearing.

"Americans are driving less, cutting into federal fuel taxes, which help pay for maintenance of highway and mass transit systems," said American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Executive Director John Horsley. "The cost of construction materials -- steel, concrete, asphalt -- is skyrocketing and at the same time that people are driving less, and that means less revenue. We're in a double whammy."

Others blame more than just a lack of money.

"Lack of vision, lack of leadership and lack of investment. Infrastructure is something that's been easy to ignore," said Urban Land Institute senior Resident Fellow for Sustainable Development Ed McMahon.

It's especially easy to ignore if you consider the latest estimates on how much it would cost to repair all 590,000 in America: $140 billion.

Infrastructure experts say that investment must begin now to prevent what happened in Minneapolis from happening again.

Crews have made incredible progress on the new I-35-W bridge.

They hope to open the new bridge to traffic between mid-September and early October.