Baltimore bridge.
- Thread starter Jacko93
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TheBigIguana
Player Valuation: £100m
That doesn’t really cross what needs to be crossed though and pushes more traffic into the bottom tunnel which is only two lanes each way. It’s probably not possible to build a replacement anywhere but where the Key Bridge was because of the surrounding roads. Building a new highway on top of a new bridge just lengthens the project ultimately.
RIP to the 6 bridge workers
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Good inspection video of the damage here, although drone pilot not as good as our lads at BMD.
Abertonian
Player Valuation: £20m
Statement from the Institute of Structural Engineers today:
https://www.istructe.org/resources/news/istructe-statement-baltimore-bridge-collapse/
https://www.istructe.org/resources/news/istructe-statement-baltimore-bridge-collapse/
Quite incredible really!
Thankfully the boat isnt taking on water! Which could have been quite possible!
A few years later, a Liberian cargo ship crashed into a bridge in Florida, sending a Greyhound bus, a pickup truck and six cars into the Tampa Bay and killing 35 people, according to the NTSB. That deadly 1980 collision helped lead to the adoption of stronger national standards for bridges, including protection from errant ships, in the years that followed, safety experts said.
Sherif El-Tawil, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at University of Michigan with expertise in bridges, said if the Key Bridge had been built after those updated standards from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials were put in place, the span could still be standing.
“I believe it would have survived,” El-Tawil said.
Maryland officials did not answer questions Tuesday about what protective devices were in place near the bridge and whether they were sufficient to withstand this type of collision.
Two examples of protective measures that did not appear to have been in place, El-Tawil said, were large fenders designed to direct marine traffic away from the bridge supports and an island built around the pier. Some states are building these kinds of protection systems around vital bridges. Last year, officials from a joint New Jersey and Delaware bridge authority announced work on eight 80-foot-wide, stone-filled cylinders designed to protect the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The existing protection for the bridge tower piers dates to 1951. “Today’s tankers and ships are bigger and faster than those of the 1950s and 1960s,” the officials said in announcing the nearly $93 million project.
State departments of transportation “are aware of the shortcomings of these bridges,” said Roberto T. Leon, a bridge and structural engineering professor at Virginia Tech. “It’s not that they don’t know. It’s a matter of prioritizing the repairs. It is a very expensive proposition to protect a bridge.”
Ian Firth, a British structural engineer and bridge designer, said he was “not surprised” at how quickly the bridge came down after it was hit. He noted that the support structure that was struck, which would have been made of reinforced concrete, was one of two main supports responsible for doing “all the work” to hold up the bridge. He said the ship appeared to have strayed to one side before striking the bridge.
The bridge collapse, like other calamities, is probably the result of overlapping low-probability failures, said Edward Tenner, a historian and expert on disasters — akin to what happens when, by chance, the holes in a stack of Swiss cheese slices line up perfectly. “This might have been a case where there were just an unlikely series of failures,” said Tenner, author of “Why Things Bite Back,” a book about technology and its unanticipated consequences. But he added, “I suspect there was something about the equipment of a huge ship like that, given the potential for damage like this, there should have been more redundancy. There shouldn’t have been one point of failure that could lead to a catastrophe.”
Speaking Tuesday afternoon in Baltimore, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the accident “a unique circumstance,” adding, “I do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size.”
The ship was towed into the Patapsco River initially, but the tugboats did not accompany the ship all the way to the bridge, said John Konrad, a retired ship captain who runs the gCaptain maritime news website and co-authored a book on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. “The safe thing to do is keep the tugs,” Konrad said. “Moving forward, I think that’s going to happen. The Coast Guard is going to say you’ve got to keep the tugs tied up until you pass the bridge.”
Sherif El-Tawil, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at University of Michigan with expertise in bridges, said if the Key Bridge had been built after those updated standards from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials were put in place, the span could still be standing.
“I believe it would have survived,” El-Tawil said.
Maryland officials did not answer questions Tuesday about what protective devices were in place near the bridge and whether they were sufficient to withstand this type of collision.
Two examples of protective measures that did not appear to have been in place, El-Tawil said, were large fenders designed to direct marine traffic away from the bridge supports and an island built around the pier. Some states are building these kinds of protection systems around vital bridges. Last year, officials from a joint New Jersey and Delaware bridge authority announced work on eight 80-foot-wide, stone-filled cylinders designed to protect the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The existing protection for the bridge tower piers dates to 1951. “Today’s tankers and ships are bigger and faster than those of the 1950s and 1960s,” the officials said in announcing the nearly $93 million project.
State departments of transportation “are aware of the shortcomings of these bridges,” said Roberto T. Leon, a bridge and structural engineering professor at Virginia Tech. “It’s not that they don’t know. It’s a matter of prioritizing the repairs. It is a very expensive proposition to protect a bridge.”
Ian Firth, a British structural engineer and bridge designer, said he was “not surprised” at how quickly the bridge came down after it was hit. He noted that the support structure that was struck, which would have been made of reinforced concrete, was one of two main supports responsible for doing “all the work” to hold up the bridge. He said the ship appeared to have strayed to one side before striking the bridge.
The bridge collapse, like other calamities, is probably the result of overlapping low-probability failures, said Edward Tenner, a historian and expert on disasters — akin to what happens when, by chance, the holes in a stack of Swiss cheese slices line up perfectly. “This might have been a case where there were just an unlikely series of failures,” said Tenner, author of “Why Things Bite Back,” a book about technology and its unanticipated consequences. But he added, “I suspect there was something about the equipment of a huge ship like that, given the potential for damage like this, there should have been more redundancy. There shouldn’t have been one point of failure that could lead to a catastrophe.”
Speaking Tuesday afternoon in Baltimore, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the accident “a unique circumstance,” adding, “I do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size.”
The ship was towed into the Patapsco River initially, but the tugboats did not accompany the ship all the way to the bridge, said John Konrad, a retired ship captain who runs the gCaptain maritime news website and co-authored a book on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. “The safe thing to do is keep the tugs,” Konrad said. “Moving forward, I think that’s going to happen. The Coast Guard is going to say you’ve got to keep the tugs tied up until you pass the bridge.”
have to think a tunnel may be considered, if it's a possibility, but that is a long span to cross
Think I read that there was already a tunnel but that the issue was transportation of hazardous waste in the region which cannot go through the tunnel.
edit
How the Baltimore bridge collapse impacts trucking
The collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge also caused the Port of Baltimore to shut down, suddenly closing the nation’s largest port for roll-on/roll-off cargo. Trucking operations...
How does the collapse affect freight movement?
The collapse affects the operations of several major freight assets in the area. Following the bridge’s collapse, the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the Port of Baltimore both shut down.“Nearly 4,900 trucks travel the bridge each day, with $28 billion in goods crossing every year,” McNally said. “Trucks moving hazardous materials will now be subject to roughly 30 miles of detours around the City of Baltimore because they are prohibited from using the city’s tunnels. This will add significant cost in time, fuel, and delays for trucks traveling through the region, on top of the disruption that a closure of the Port of Baltimore will inflict on our economy.”
...
The Maryland Transportation Authority is asking motorists to avoid the I-695 southeast corridor. To cross the harbor, it recommends using the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel on I-95 or the Fort McHenry Tunnel on I-895 for alternative routes.
However, MDTA prohibits vehicles carrying certain hazardous materials from using the tunnels. This includes propane gas in excess of 10 pounds per container (or a maximum of 10 containers), bulk gasoline, explosives, or significant amounts of radioactive materials. Vehicles carrying these materials should instead use I-695 around the tunnels.
According to CBS News, the bridge was originally constructed after the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel had reached capacity and experienced daily heavy congestion.
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Amazingly fast response, especially given the early time when people might be understandably sleepy.
And willing to risk their life to save others.
And willing to risk their life to save others.
The binman chronicles
Player Valuation: £80m
Some people may not know but there are two more bridges further down stream that a ship has to clear before it gets out into open water...
If you keep the tugs for the replacement bridge that was destroyed then surely they have to stay attached for these too. These are quite a way out of port though.
TheBigIguana
Player Valuation: £100m
Yeah the hazmat part is tough as now you either have to go through downtown to avoid the tunnels or go all the way around the city. The tunnels are already packed at rush hour so this is going to be a real strain. There isn’t really a good solution but to rebuild it and that obviously is going to take awhile.Think I read that there was already a tunnel but that the issue was transportation of hazardous waste in the region which cannot go through the tunnel.
edit
How the Baltimore bridge collapse impacts trucking
The collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge also caused the Port of Baltimore to shut down, suddenly closing the nation’s largest port for roll-on/roll-off cargo. Trucking operations...www.fleetowner.com
How does the collapse affect freight movement?
The collapse affects the operations of several major freight assets in the area. Following the bridge’s collapse, the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the Port of Baltimore both shut down.
“Nearly 4,900 trucks travel the bridge each day, with $28 billion in goods crossing every year,” McNally said. “Trucks moving hazardous materials will now be subject to roughly 30 miles of detours around the City of Baltimore because they are prohibited from using the city’s tunnels. This will add significant cost in time, fuel, and delays for trucks traveling through the region, on top of the disruption that a closure of the Port of Baltimore will inflict on our economy.”
...
The Maryland Transportation Authority is asking motorists to avoid the I-695 southeast corridor. To cross the harbor, it recommends using the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel on I-95 or the Fort McHenry Tunnel on I-895 for alternative routes.
However, MDTA prohibits vehicles carrying certain hazardous materials from using the tunnels. This includes propane gas in excess of 10 pounds per container (or a maximum of 10 containers), bulk gasoline, explosives, or significant amounts of radioactive materials. Vehicles carrying these materials should instead use I-695 around the tunnels.
According to CBS News, the bridge was originally constructed after the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel had reached capacity and experienced daily heavy congestion.
Reading some of right wing ideology coming out of the good old USA over this absolutely mental
Rita_Poon
Player Valuation: £100m
Heroes. No mucking about. Brilliant people.
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