Baltimore Bridge Collapse

[ScriptOhio]

Maryland: Ship hits Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse

A ship has hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, causing it to collapse, authorities said.

www.foxnews.com

Maryland: Ship hits Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse​

The Francis Scott Key Bridge along I-695 in Maryland collapsed into the Baltimore harbor early Tuesday morning following a "ship strike," Maryland transportation officials said.

A livestream of the bridge appeared to show a cargo ship colliding with a support beam, causing the bridge to break and fall into the Patapsco River. Multiple vehicles were on the bridge at the time.

Emergency crews were searching for at least 20 people believed to be in the water, Kevin Cartwright, director of communications for the Baltimore Fire Department, told The Associated Press around 3 a.m. Officials have described this as a mass casualty event. There were no specific number of deceased.

"Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people," Cartwright said, calling the collapse a "developing mass casualty event."

It is believed that a Singapore-flagged cargo ship struck the heavily-traveled bridge. The large vessel then caught fire before it sank.

The Maryland Transportation Authority said on social media that all lanes are closed in both directions and that traffic is being detoured. Later, it urged drivers to avoid the I-695 southeast corridor and to instead use I-95 or I-895.




Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. confirmed emergency personnel were responding and rescue efforts were underway.

Cartwright said agencies received 911 calls around 1:30 a.m. that a vessel traveling from Baltimore had struck the bridge, causing it to collapse.

"This is a dire emergency," Cartwright added.

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[DubCoffman62]

Absolutely insane

 

[Steve19]

Overview of Bridges​

There are more than 617,000 bridges across the United States. Currently, 42% of all bridges are at least 50 years old, and 46,154, or 7.5% of the nation’s bridges, are considered structurally deficient, meaning they are in “poor” condition. Unfortunately, 178 million trips are taken across these structurally deficient bridges every day. In recent years, though, as the average age of America’s bridges increases to 44 years, the number of structurally deficient bridges has continued to decline; however, the rate of improvements has slowed. A recent estimate for the nation’s backlog of bridge repair needs is $125 billion. We need to increase spending on bridge rehabilitation from $14.4 billion annually to $22.7 billion annually, or by 58%, if we are to improve the condition. At the current rate of investment, it will take until 2071 to make all of the repairs that are currently necessary, and the additional deterioration over the next 50 years will become overwhelming. The nation needs a systematic program for bridge preservation like that embraced by many states, whereby existing deterioration is prioritized and the focus is on preventive maintenance.

The state of bridges in the United States has been rather alarming for more than 15 years. Anyone remember the bridge to St Louis that feel into the Mississippi? More than 46,000 bridges are in poor condition (i.e., declared "structurally deficient"), and 178 million vehicles cross those worrisome bridges every day.

Get the full report here

 

[ochre]

The state of bridges in the United States has been rather alarming for more than 15 years. Anyone remember the bridge to St Louis that feel into the Mississippi? More than 46,000 bridges are in poor condition (i.e., declared "structurally deficient"), and 178 million vehicles cross those worrisome bridges every day.

Get the full report here

I think that was Minneapolis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-35W_Mississippi_River_bridge.

 

[Mike80]

Crazy - wonder what caused the electrical issues on the ship.

There's also a power line that runs along that bridge you can sorta see it kinda in the video. I wonder if that took any damage.

Having been on that bridge and watched ships go under it many times, I always wondered why these never typically had tugs accompanying them. I've been told it's a state/local refusal to spend the money for it.

 

[Mike80]

The state of bridges in the United States has been rather alarming for more than 15 years. Anyone remember the bridge to St Louis that feel into the Mississippi? More than 46,000 bridges are in poor condition (i.e., declared "structurally deficient"), and 178 million vehicles cross those worrisome bridges every day.

Get the full report here

There isn't a bridge in the world that would stand up to having a cargo ship of that size hit its main support bastion though.

 

[DubCoffman62]

 

[Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux]

We didn’t need confirmation that the video was real.

Who would doubt the impeccable word of “Haywood Jablomi” in the OP?

 

[Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux]

 

[Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux]

 

[BuckBackHome]

The state of bridges in the United States has been rather alarming for more than 15 years. Anyone remember the bridge to St Louis that feel into the Mississippi? More than 46,000 bridges are in poor condition (i.e., declared "structurally deficient"), and 178 million vehicles cross those worrisome bridges every day.

Get the full report here

I lived in another state (shall remain nameless so I am not shamed) and was waiting for a meeting to start. One of the attendees was late. Her excuse was along the lines of "I had to take the long way here." After the meeting I was talking with her. Apparently her husband was the primary bridge inspector in the area and he had her avoid certain bridges.

 

[Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux]

The state of bridges in the United States has been rather alarming for more than 15 years. Anyone remember the bridge to St Louis that feel into the Mississippi? More than 46,000 bridges are in poor condition (i.e., declared "structurally deficient"), and 178 million vehicles cross those worrisome bridges every day.

Get the full report here

The i10 bridge in lake Charles is said to be the “least structurally safe” in the entire country!

68-year-old, dilapidated Calcasieu River Bridge on Interstate 10 in Lake Charles to be replaced

Lake Charles, La. (KLFY)- The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has announced that the Louisiana Joint Transportation, Highway and Public Works Committee has given its app…

www.klfy.com

 

[Thump]

Just read that after the ship’s “Mayday” call that the port authority or police prevented any other vehicles from crossing the bridge.

Just a confluence of horrible events.

 

[DubCoffman62]

The i10 bridge in lake Charles is said to be the “least structurally safe” in the entire country!

68-year-old, dilapidated Calcasieu River Bridge on Interstate 10 in Lake Charles to be replaced

Lake Charles, La. (KLFY)- The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has announced that the Louisiana Joint Transportation, Highway and Public Works Committee has given its app…

www.klfy.com

The beauty of living in the desert is there's very few bridges. There is a bridge however on Hwy 93 between Wickenburg and Wikieup that goes over about 500 foot canyon with a rocky dry wash at the bottom.

 

[Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux]

Just read that after the ship’s “Mayday” call that the port authority or police prevented any other vehicles from crossing the bridge.

Just a confluence of horrible events.

not sure if i understand.

So they stopped people from crossing the bridge, doesn’t that mean it was clear when the crash happened?

Or were people stuck on it?

I can see it’s inconvenient for some to not make it to their destination promptly but better that than not making it out alive by being on there.

But I’m not clear on how this makes this awful situation worse.