Baltimore bridge hit and collapses

[thumper18474]

Live updates: Baltimore Key bridge collapses after ship collision

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday after it was struck by a large ship, according to video obtained by CNN. Follow live updates here.

www.cnn.com

Uh oh
Somebody done fucked up!!

 

[jalimon]

Why was the bridge not closed before? They had a few minutes to do it.

 

[IM469]

Why was the bridge not closed before? They had a few minutes to do it.

Even if by some wild guess you knew a one or two minutes before that it was going to hit the bridge, how long to think it would take to get the cops there and effectively stop traffic ?

I'm more curious how long before did the captain realize he was going to hit and try to avoid the collision.

Can you imagine the momentum of such a large vessel ? That is 200,000+ tons on an almost frictionless surface that you are trying to steer.

 

[bazokajoe]

Reminds me of a few instances like that that occurred in the Welland canal.

Port Robinson bridge got knocked down when it was hit by a boat.

Port Robinson bridge after the freighter Steelton struck it, August 25, 1974 · Welland Canal Bridges and Tunnels · Brock University Library

Google Search

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Second was the Allenburg bridge was lowered too soon and hit the wheel house which caught on fire.

Google Search

www.google.com

 

[Mandalorian]

It’s quite a striking image.

 

[anon1]

Ship lost power after leaving port.

 

[richaceg]

Captain is done fore...I don't think he'll ever steer again...LoL...TS is right....someone done fuck up...

 

[thumper18474]

Couldn't they have dropped anchor??
That may have slowed it down a little..giving those on the bridge time to get off it

 

[HotDogger]

Captain is done fore...I don't think he'll ever steer again...LoL...TS is right....someone done fuck up...

Definitely criminally negligent homicide(s). He’s going to prison if he doesn’t off himself first.

 

[explorerzip]

Man that's scary. Imagine being a driver on the bridge when this happens.

Or the crew that were powerless to do anything.

 

[GameBoy27]

Ship lost power and issued a mayday call. They weren't able to steer the ship. Simple as that. Unfortunately, a few people may have died.

 

[explorerzip]

Couldn't they have dropped anchor??
That may have slowed it down a little..giving those on the bridge time to get off it

It happened so quickly that the crew likely couldn't get to the anchor. They'd also have to check that the area was clear before dropping anchor and make sure there weren't any restrictions in the channel like underwater cables, etc. Dropping anchor in a confined space like that would be very dangerous too

 

[thumper18474]

I smell a made for TV movie coming..or even a full length theatrical release!!

 

[GameBoy27]

Remember this?

 

[tml]

CNN reported they did drop anchor before they hit.

I'd love to see President Biden blame Russia for this.

 

[Jenesis]

That was ….. I don’t even have words.

 

[farquhar]

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was built in 1977. It's a Truss Bridge. An Engineer on CTV explained that each support, including the ones on the land, act as one integrated unit to hold the Bridge up. If there is a Critical Failure at one point, the whole structure will collapse.

The Engineer also pointed out that when the Bridge was constructed, it would have been anticipated that ships could strike the supports and the Bridge would have been engineered with that in mind; however, Cargo Container ships in 1977 were less than half the size of Cargo Container ships today.

There is no disputing the cause of the collapse; but, based on the interview I watched, I wonder if this could have been reasonably foreseen and if there was anything the State of Baltimore could have done with the Bridge to mitigate this catastrophe.

 

[dognutz]

CNN reported they did drop anchor before they hit.

I'd love to see President Biden blame Russia for this.

He's forgotten it happened already.

 

[Sonic Temple]

Unreal - how can this happen in this day and age is beyond me.

 

[bazokajoe]

Unreal - how can this happen in this day and age is beyond me.

You have to explain why you think that?
The ship lost power. Pretty self explanatory.