Washington ? Less than 48 hours after the collapse of the Interstate 35W Bridge, the U.S. House on Friday unanimously approved a $250 million emergency relief package to rebuild it.

Members of the Minnesota delegation, who united behind the measure, found themselves in a race against time to have the Senate follow suit before lawmakers left for their August recess.

President Bush, who is traveling to the accident site today, gave his support to the funding request, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.

Minnesota lawmakers of both parties pleaded for a unified show of support from their colleagues around the nation.

Depending on the new design, replacement of the 1,900-foot span could easily cost upward of $200 million, according to Charles Roeder, a civil engineer from the University of Washington, an expert on bridges.

That figure would not include the cost of cleaning up and investigating the collapse, he said.