Key bridge in Baltimore collapses after cargo ship crashes into it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh no, we may not get our Amazon packages…heaven forbid.

This is so sad and scary. It’s amazing someone survived unscathed.

You're an idiot. It's not just Amazon.

Baltimore is the #1 port for import/export of sedans and light duty trucks. One of the largest ports for transferring coal and sugar. It's a huge port.

Jesus, look at the force of the ship. Despite moving slowly, the mass of the ship was just too much for the bridge to handle (F = M x V)

How was it able to stop? Is the pillar that strong? Or would it have regained control to stay in one spot?

In in the nighttime video it all looks so small. The daytime really lets you comprehend the sheer scale of things. But what terrible luck to hit the pillar head on.

It stopped because the steel truss of the bridge in embedded into the nose of the ship...

So some are complaining the bridge was too flimsy because it collapsed and now some are complaining that the bridge was too strong and stopped the ship.

Who’s complaining about the bridge stopping the ship?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

Thanks for posting this. Does anyone know why the ship wouldn’t just drop anchor in this case?

It wouldn't do much good. 95,000 tonnes in motion is not easy to stop

Might tear up the front of the ship but could have avoided the collision.

They did drop anchor and reverse the engines and the ship slowed but didn’t stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh no, we may not get our Amazon packages…heaven forbid.

This is so sad and scary. It’s amazing someone survived unscathed.

Easter bunnies freaking out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to see the 'receipts'. These ships have redundancies to prevent this type of things - back up generators, etc. Crews are not the best - tend to panic and not well-trained - but the captain is.

If only we had a federal agency(ies) that would investigate this….

Yeah, the Feds are so reliable these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to see the 'receipts'. These ships have redundancies to prevent this type of things - back up generators, etc. Crews are not the best - tend to panic and not well-trained - but the captain is.

If only we had a federal agency(ies) that would investigate this….

Like a port authority...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Key Bridge was the hazmat route. I’m a passenger in a car along the top of 695 and its truck city around here.

Hazmats will need to use the Towson side.

Yep. It will be grid lock city on 695.

Will any of that traffic add to the density on 95?

Vehicle traffic yes. Trucks and oversized vehicles will have to take 695 around Towson, because they are too big for the tunnels.

Most trucks are fine in the tunnels. Only wide loads and trucks with hazardous materials can’t use the tunnels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess we need to start rolling down our windows before we cross over bridges

It’s a good idea. Only way you would have a chance of getting out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

Thanks for posting this. Does anyone know why the ship wouldn’t just drop anchor in this case?

It wouldn't do much good. 95,000 tonnes in motion is not easy to stop

Might tear up the front of the ship but could have avoided the collision.

No. Anchors aren't like breaks on a boat. You drop it, but then it has to drag and catch on something in the surface of the river. If the ship has any forward momentum, it will take a while for the dragging to slow the ship enough so that the friction of the anchor can stop the boat. And then even when the anchor is secure, the ship will still drift in a pretty large circle about the anchor point depending on currents, wind, etc.

[Anonymous]

Lots of monday morning quarterbacks in this thread. To add my useless two cents

1) All of you complaining about the bridge being flimsy must have skipped high school physics. It seems shocking when you look at it but modern bridges are marvels of engineering that rely on balance and tension. The cards these houses are built with are strong and sturdy but a bridge is still a house of cards. If you take out a keystone, an arch falls. It doesn't mean the arch is weak. Bridge pilons are bridge keystones.

2) Talking about the massive downstream effects from this incident is not downplaying the tragedy. Lives were lost here in the immediate impact but these other issues could cause a LOT of damage to the people of Baltimore. Livelihoods lost, I mean even something as simple as someone no longer being able to reasonably commute to their job resulting in loss of employment resulting in harm to children/family/etc. You can say that doesn't matter but many people live on a fine line and the job they have is the difference between being able to keep your kids housed and fed and being homeless. Disrupting a MAJOR traffic artery in the area for what will likely be YEARS is no small thing.

3) Comparing this to other situations where freeways were put back up quickly is a fool's comparison. Bridges are FAR more complex construction projects than basically any other roadway. This will not be fixed in two weeks. Car ferry I guess is a possibility but this bridge took like 35k people across it every day. You would need infrastructure akin to like the Staten Island Ferry to make that happen (a ferry system that includes 10 boats in addition to the harbors/ports that house the ferries and facilitate loading up/disembarking)

In short, this is a tragedy not just for those men but a true crisis for the city of Baltimore that could have wide ranging effects on all kinds of people and my heart hurts for Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on the ESMD on the Bay and according to my navy and coast guard friends out here: the boat was experiencing repeated power failures from the short time it was released from the tugs after it left the port. Without power the navigation system won’t work and you cannot steer it and hence the boat will drift. The crew then tried to force the throttle to get it back on course and avoid a collision which is why there is thick black smoke seen coming from the boat before it gets to the bridge. The boat did contact MTA/the bridge which has its headquarters at the north end of the bridge in Dundalk to indicate they believed it would collide with the bridge but there wasn’t enough time IRT to then close the bridge to traffic before it was struck.

The ship was FULL of thousands (yes, thousands) of containers. The weight is incredible. You cannot do sharp turns or sudden stops on this. It also is so heavy it would do this to almost any bridge if collided.

Every single container ship that sails on the Bay, anywhere from Virginia Beach to Baltimore, must have a local bay captain on board while it’s on the bay to navigate the ship. There was one on this ship as well.

Ships are being re-routed to the port of Philadelphia.

Thanks for posting this. Does anyone know why the ship wouldn’t just drop anchor in this case?

It wouldn't do much good. 95,000 tonnes in motion is not easy to stop

Might tear up the front of the ship but could have avoided the collision.

No. Anchors aren't like breaks on a boat. You drop it, but then it has to drag and catch on something in the surface of the river. If the ship has any forward momentum, it will take a while for the dragging to slow the ship enough so that the friction of the anchor can stop the boat. And then even when the anchor is secure, the ship will still drift in a pretty large circle about the anchor point depending on currents, wind, etc.

Thanks for all of this
- the PP who asked about the anchor

[Anonymous]

1) All of you complaining about the bridge being flimsy must have skipped high school physics. It seems shocking when you look at it but modern bridges are marvels of engineering that rely on balance and tension. The cards these houses are built with are strong and sturdy but a bridge is still a house of cards. If you take out a keystone, an arch falls. It doesn't mean the arch is weak. Bridge pilons are bridge keystones.

+1 I admit I skipped high school physics but I still know what a cantilever span is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh no, we may not get our Amazon packages…heaven forbid.

This is so sad and scary. It’s amazing someone survived unscathed.

You're an idiot. It's not just Amazon.

Baltimore is the #1 port for import/export of sedans and light duty trucks. One of the largest ports for transferring coal and sugar. It's a huge port.

Jesus, look at the force of the ship. Despite moving slowly, the mass of the ship was just too much for the bridge to handle (F = M x V)

F = ma, KE = 1/2 mv^2, p = mv

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you ever went to Starscape at Fort Armisted, this is the big bridge next to the venue site. Was amazing to watch the sunrise from that location, dancing to techno adjacent to the bridge.

Simpler times!

Fort Armisted will likely be the recovery site for them to dump bridge debris and set up an HQ to manage the work.

lol definitely went many times

[Anonymous]

This is definitely going to cause big shipping and fulfillment issues from our area, for a few months at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me guess. This is probably all the result of poor maintenance of the ship to save a few $ to minorly boost profit. The ship has an electrical failure and loses a control as a result, causing this fiasco.

It was probably consultants who prescribed reduced maintenance of the ship to save on costs that resulted in this. It's entirely their MO like the train crash disaster in Ohio where they proposed to cut staff and maintenance to the bone.

I literally watched a West Wing episode two days ago with flashbacks to when Sam was a corporate lawyer and helped a shipping company buy a crappy ship, that ended up running aground in North Carolina and leaking.

Nerd alert here, but in that episode the ship ran aground near Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.