Key bridge in Baltimore collapses after cargo ship crashes into it
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Commentary isn't by default "junk". It is ok for people to share educated conjecture. Every post does not need a link. |
Anonymous
PP. Thank you, I’m an engineer and I found the context of the shipping industry very helpful. And I think he is right that the new bridge will be bigger and higher. I remember when the roadway on the Bayonne bridge in ny was raised to accommodate new Panamax ships. Those bigger ships became popular because the Panama Canal got new locks which allowed bigger boats. So what he is saying about the suez size constraint makes sense. Interesting read. |
Anonymous
|
I feel bad for the families of the men who were working on the bridge. 🙁
I read that two bodies were recovered earlier today. This entire story is just so tragic. |
Anonymous
Raising the bridge won't change the size constraint because any ship coming into Baltimore needs to fit under the Bay Bridge. |
Anonymous
Taxpayers paid almost $2 billion dollars to “raise” the Bayonne bridge. You don’t think new bridges that span harbors will be preemptively designed for larger ships? |
Anonymous
Were there lower bridges between the Bayonne bridge and the ocean? |
Anonymous
Not in Baltimore. |
Anonymous
Why couldn’t the shipping container drop anchor and stay put in the middle of the river, until help could get to them? Why did they decide to just drift with no power, especially at night? That seems so reckless. |
Anonymous
They did drop anchor. Anchors don't stop ships that size instantly. They drag and slow things down, but they take a few miles to stop. The ship did slow down before it hit, because of the anchor they dropped, and because they fired up generators and threw the engines in reverse, but there wasn't enough time. They were too close. |
Anonymous
Are you joking? Or do you not understand the event timeline? Or how long it takes for an anchor to slow/stop a ship? Do you think it’s instantaneous?? |
Anonymous
I mean that’s great for those people but that doesn’t have anything to do with the Bay Bridge. I live in Stevensville in QAC and cross the bridge almost every day. Maryland just finished a several year study and expensive study on whether to replace the bridge or build a new bridge at 2 different sites and in the end decided to just keep the bridge as is. They are currently replacing the eastbound deck. They’re not raising the bridge, not in our lifetime. https://mdta.maryland.gov/BayBridgeEastboundDeckReplacementProject |
Anonymous
40 pages in and you still don't understand why this didn’t work? You’re too stupid to help. |
Anonymous
No one is saying that the car deck on the bay bridge will be raised. But the fact that other bridges in the us have been altered to allow larger ships to pass underneath, coupled with the fact that even bigger ships are likely in the pipeline means that cities will either plan to accommodate larger ships or suffer the economic consequences of losing business to a different city. Baltimore already has had to dredge because of the Panamax ships, I’m sure future ship size considerations is near the top of the list for planners of the replacement bridge. |
Anonymous
I bet some greedy capitalist sold the sign above the brake lever to save money! |
Anonymous
The only way a ship can get to the Baltimore harbor is by going under the bay bridge first. So, there is no point in raising the Key bridge’s replacement without also raising the Bay Bridge. Yes, it might make sense economically if bigger ships were able to come to Baltimore, but just raising the Key bridge doesn’t allow they to happen. |