Key Bridge, Baltimore, has collapsed.

tolmie's hairdoo said:
Yep, although it can't be ruled out, the time it takes place isn't the usual MO.

Sadly, it is a long enough bridge that those cars which we do see passing may not have made it to the other side :(

There are containers hanging from the structure, so the rescue workers are also in a very tight spot in these first few hours.

No divers can enter the water.
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Should be daybreak soon there if not already. Guy on GMB earlier said divers had already gone in but not sure how true that is. Surely it would be fruitless in the dark?
 
BlueHammer85 said:
Ships hit docks all the time and have collision incidences at terminals, it's rare to collide into a bridge like this but just like a plane crash - it happens.
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Yeah fair enough, just very surreal to watch it happen to a bridge like that with cars driving on it.
 
TinFoilHat said:
I can see the military being brought in to build a temporary structure to try and negate the issue.
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They will need to build a similar ‘high’ bridge though, because the obstruction to road traffic is minor compared to the obstruction of sea traffic , which now can’t get in/out, and that wont be alleviated by a quick road bridge.

It’s a pretty major economic hit for Baltimore, the US and the world.
 
JASR said:
They will need to build a similar ‘high’ bridge though, because the obstruction to road traffic is minor compared to the obstruction of sea traffic , which now can’t get in/out, and that wont be alleviated by a quick road bridge.

It’s a pretty major economic hit for Baltimore, the US and the world.
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I'm slowly learning that watching the news coverage.

This Is the kind of unexpected tragedy not needed in an election year.
 
Citizen of Legoland said:
Not saying I am an expert. If that is the case then why not shut down Bluemoon because that's all this forum is, opinions (and jokes about bikes outside). I am simply parroting what other experts have said this morning, and I believe them because I studied engineering to A level (grade B) standard and it makes sense to me.

I'll go now and wait for the inquiry results on this matter. I hope all those who went in the water get rescued.
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One thing the enquiry almost certainly won't conclude, is that the bridge was flimsy or the design at fault.

But fair enough re the opinion, and agree entirely with thoughts of anyone there.
 
Trevor Morley's Tache said:
Major infrastructure in Baltimore. This could seriously impact the local economy.

There's a lot of kinetic energy in a heavy cargo ship, even at low speed. More than enough to destroy a bridge. Hopefully nobody seriously injured or killed, although there are reports of people in the water.

Just waiting for Trump to somehow blame Biden.
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Fuck of with that shite.
 
JASR said:
They will need to build a similar ‘high’ bridge though, because the obstruction to road traffic is minor compared to the obstruction of sea traffic , which now can’t get in/out, and that wont be alleviated by a quick road bridge.

It’s a pretty major economic hit for Baltimore, the US and the world.
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Expanding on the economy side (and I haven’t looked/know details, just thought process):
The ship was a large container one, which means Baltimore is a large seaport with serious amounts of cargo in/out. Anything landside of the bridge isn’t going anywhere for awhile (think Suez Canal blockage), so that’s X number of container ships removed from the world trade (and its containerisation/ships that have driven the world economy so well in the past 50 odd years). You then have the ships currently enroute to Baltimore, they will need to be re-routed to other destinations, and the logistical nightmare of getting the contents to the right place from a different port. (And getting the stuff in Baltimore to another port).
I’m unsure on container ports capacity, but you would think they operate up in the high 80-95% range, so losing Baltimore puts strain on the remaining nearby ones, and throws a very large spanner in the shipping scheduling (as per suez and Houthi).

The Suez blockage caused serious issues in the supply chain, Baltimore isn’t perhaps a severe an issue in the short term, but the need to remove/rebuild bridge makes it a longterm serious issue.
 
civil and structural engineer Julian Carter, says bridges such as the one in Baltimore are "very weak at points".

He says the "catastrophic collapse" of much of the bridge was because everything along the structure is "interconnected".

Other large bridges may have central piers where the main structure is disconnected from the rest, but in this case the interconnected nature of the bridge means "when you take out one part of it, the interconnected system fails".

Mr Carter says the "lightweight structure" was likely tested at some point for a ship collision.

This may have been suitable at the time, he says, but container ships are now "twice the size".

The engineer adds that he expects many ports and bridge piers will need to be risk assessed for similar situations.
 
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