Reply to Key bridge in Baltimore collapses after cargo ship crashes into it

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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. [b]This will not be fixed in two weeks.[/b] 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. [/quote]

NP.  No one said it would be fixed in two weeks.  Someone up thread guessed it would take that long to clear the channel and reopeon the harbor.  Probably about right.

Rebuilding the bridge will take years.  [/quote]

Someone mentioned Newsom getting the major freeway in LA back up and running when a section collapsed last year being a good resource to consult on this. Not saying it was a widespread talking point but it was def brought up![/quote]

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