Key Bridge, Baltimore, has collapsed.

[ChicagoBlue]

Beyond the potential loss of life, that bridge is THE ONLY outer harbor bridge and will create massive headaches for Baltimore and those people attempting N-S travel. The reroute through or around Baltimore will be very problematic.

 

[BlueHammer85]

I worked for loads of different companies deep sea. As those jobs dried up I ended up in Dover on the cross channel ferries. Sealink, Stena line, P&O Stena line then P&O Ferries. I even did a short stint on the hovercraft.

No I took early retirement in 2016.

Nice.
If I have any shipping queries I’ll ask you.
I work in operations for london company.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

Flimsy? Don't think there is a bridge in the world that takes the momentum of a cargo ship to its suppost and stays up.

An average size cargo ship travelling at 10 knots has around 1800MJ of kinetic energy. A lot of that energy will be dissipated by the deforming of the hull of the ship in any collision, but still more than enough to rip a reinforced iron/steel bridge from its foundations.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

I have seen older bridges like this have large concrete guards built in front of support structures to avoid boats hitting them, but I doubt they would make much of a dent in a container ship.

Again, it depends on the type and design of the bridge. Placing concrete dolphin protection devices (unconnected to the structure like at the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Florida) or starlings (bulwarks like at Tower Bridge) might not stop the impact but it may reduce the energy being transferred to the bridge. Then the design of the bridge needs consideration, some designs work better than others. Trestle bridges like this one transfer the impact energy across its full length as they have little dampening by their very design. There are better designs for bridges these days.

 

[paulchapo]

Tragic bridge collision at Baltimore :-(

A former regular caller to the Port of Felixstowe was involved, the Singaporean registered container ship 'Dali', which, circa 0130 hrs. today, was involved in the tragedy at Baltimore, Maryland, USA, when it struck and brought down the Francis Scott Key bridge.

There will be a number of fatalities.

The vessel, which is on long term charter to Maersk, had sailed from Baltimore Seagirt container terminal at 0100 this morning, destination Colombo, Sri Lanka, with an ETA of 22/04/2024.

As of now, (UK time) 0856 hrs, 26/03/2024, the ship is still in situ at the bridge area.

 

[Coatigan]

There's an engineer on BBC at the moment talking about how progress has been made to help reduce damage to bridges being struck like this since this one was built in the seventies. Some of this can be retro-fitted, so therefore some will get damaged less than others.

That still doesn't make the bridge 'flimsy'. It is a huge force that hits it, at one of two main support points.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Again, it depends on the type and design of the bridge. Placing concrete dolphin protection devices (unconnected to the structure like at the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Florida) or starlings (bulwarks like at Tower Bridge) might not stop the impact but it may reduce the energy being transferred to the bridge. Then the design of the bridge needs consideration, some designs work better than others. Trestle bridges like this one transfer the impact energy across its full length as they have little dampening by their very design. There are better designs for bridges these days.

Love how many experts are on here with experience of almost anything that pops up.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

That still doesn't make the bridge 'flimsy'. It is a huge force that hits it, at one of two main support points.

Why are we having this argument? I said they look flimsy 'to me'. Looking at it, I would expect more damage to that design than by a ship of the exact same weight and speed hitting a suspension bridge of a modern design.

 

[northendenton]

Awful mate.

And the captain and helmsman weren't much better.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

Love how many experts are on here with experience of almost anything that pops up.

Thanks for the info.

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.

 

[Crooked_rain]

That's awful

I've never seen anything like that. How does that even happen?

Not saying its deliberate, I have no idea but it's such a strange thing to see that it barely looks accidentally.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Beyond the potential loss of life, that bridge is THE ONLY outer harbor bridge and will create massive headaches for Baltimore and those people attempting N-S travel. The reroute through or around Baltimore will be very problematic.

I can see the military being brought in to build a temporary structure to try and negate the issue.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Awful. Watched it a few times now and certainly can't rule out a deliberate act?

It's heading direct for a key support when they are so spaced out?

Throw in Francis Scott Key and his lyrics for the US National anthem, and all the elements are there.

The flip side, it's 1.30am in the morning and terrorists always plan for maximum loss of life.

Incredible seeing some of those cars pass by before the ship strikes.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

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.

Expert or not, I appreciate you sharing expert information with us (me), as I like learning.

Like you, I hope they not only recover, but rescue, those who went into the water.

 

[BlueHammer85]

That's awful

I've never seen anything like that. How does that even happen?

Not saying its deliberate, I have no idea but it's such a strange thing to see that it barely looks accidentally.

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.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Who was driving that boat, McNulty after two bottles of Jameson’s?!

 

[LangleyBlue1970]

Awful. Watched it a few times now and certainly can't rule out a deliberate act?

It's heading direct for a key support when they are so spaced out?

Throw in Francis Scott Key and his lyrics for the US National anthem, and all the elements are there.

The flip side, it's 1.30am in the morning and terrorists always plan for maximum loss of life.

Incredible seeing some of those cars pass by before the ship strikes.

I noticed that about the cars. Two of them just make it across. I can’t see anymore headlights going back or forth after those, so hopefully minimal went in, if any.

I’d say that is correct too about terror. Not a chance they’d do such an act at that time. For me it looks technical and unavoidable at that stage.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I can see the military being brought in to build a temporary structure to try and negate the issue.

Doubtful, as that would likely be a pontoon-type structure, which would shutdown a massive harbor.

Here you can see the bridge, which is already shown as shutdown…

 

[Bluemoon dan]

All ships crew accounted for so presumably they will get some answers as to what on earth happened. Hopefully they've been able to save some of the poor souls who went into the water.

I have absolutely no idea on this but I'm guessing ships must have some kind of black box type thing that they have on aircraft so it should be relatively easy to work out what happened?

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

I noticed that about the cars. Two of them just make it across. I can’t see anymore headlights going back or forth after those, so hopefully minimal went in, if any.

I’d say that is correct too about terror. Not a chance they’d do such an act at that time. For me it looks technical and unavoidable at that stage.

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.