Major Bridge Collapse in Baltimore

[Yazata]

About half an hour ago a container ship ran into one of the support pillars of the Francis Scott Key bridge spanning Baltimore harbor. The entire bridge proceeded to spectacularly collapse. It was a large bridge and the video looks like something from a disaster movie.

Estimates were that at least ten cars were on the bridge at the time. Luckily it happened late at night in the early predawn hours or it would have been a lot worse.

Right now a major response is underway with Baltimore police and fire, the Coast Guard and helicopters from the Maryland State Police. A 'mass casualty event' has been declared.

An interesting aspect of this is that while citizen-journalists on X are reporting on it, there's nothing about it on the cable tv news networks. Fox is rerunning Gutfeld and cnn is (predictably) doing a current events show about how much Trump supposedly sucks. There's nothing on the broadcast networks either.

I guess the "news" doesn't cover major breaking news events any more. It's all entertainment reruns or political propaganda. Despite this happening around 3 am eastern, I expect that Baltimore local news is on it and the national news could run those feeds... if they cared.

https://twitter.com/rawsalerts/status/17...6338619487

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Reports that the container ship that struck the bridge has ruptured its hull, is listing and there's a strong smell of diesel fuel in the water near it.

It's been identified as the container ship Dali, Singapore flagged, owned and operated. If it was operating in the Baltimore harbor, it likely had a local harbor pilot aboard.

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[Zinjanthropos]

Wow! Looks like something out of WWII photo album. It may have, as you say, exposed the real agenda for some news agencies. Condolences to families of those who died.

Have heard that Baltimore is a major thoroughfare for stolen cars on their way across the Atlantic via container ships. Could this ship illegally have tried to leave the port and make a run for it sans pilot? Much to investigate and the cost will be enormous.

[C C]

The collapse comes just two days after the 47-year anniversary of the bridge's construction, which was completed on March 24, 1977.

Amazing no ship blundered into a support pillar before this, during that period. Or if they did, failed to wreck the bridge. Standards for maritime pilots and port navigators are probably declining like everything else in this DEI era, so maybe that provided the extra "talent" to do what no one had done before.

[stryder]

The collapse comes just two days after the 47-year anniversary of the bridge's construction, which was completed on March 24, 1977.

Amazing no ship blundered into a support pillar before this, during that period. Or if they did, failed to wreck the bridge. Standards for maritime pilots and port navigators are probably declining like everything else in this DEI era, so maybe that provided the extra "talent" to do what no one had done before.

Usually the bridge pylons at the base of the bridge tend to have guard rails around so as to stop things bumping into them. Although looking at the footage the ship was high enough up that it was able to strike the pylon while still in the water. It's unfortunate that we only see engineering mistakes in hindsight, especially when it costs lives.

It is possible that the ship was trying to navigate during a change in tide. When navigating it's important to plan ahead for weather conditions, tide changes etc

I'm sure when it comes to commercial viability, deliveries are time sensative. If a ship is held up for any reason they can feel forced to make up the time which might mean setting out in less than ideal circumstances.

[Yazata]

WBAL local tv news helicopter photo

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The Key Bridge that collapsed, photo from bridge structural engineer Matt Dursh

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See Matt Dursh's remarks here

https://twitter.com/MattDursh/status/177...0599238112

He says in part:

"We design modern bridges for ship impact, but this was not always the case.

In 1980 the Sunshine Skyway Bridge also collapsed from vessel strike...

Similar bridges and identical failure.

The Skyway collapse changed bridge design...

It appears the bow of the ship made contact with the vertical columns that supported the truss superstructure, causing it to have a cascade failure...

This bridge was going to fail from this event. It simply was not designed for an equivalent static force that is well over 3 million pounds.

The container ship, assuming the navigation channel is centered, veered over 500 feet off course.

Why did the whole thing fall?

The whole truss fell because this is a continuous bridge.

This means that the 3 span unit behaves as one. If one span fails, the maximum dead loads redistribute...

Modern bridges deal with vessel collision two ways.

The first is to use a dolphin.

This is a mass of rock, sand, and steel that serves to stop the vessel before it makes contact with the bridge.

Likely the new bridge replacement will use a dolphin as one method...

The second is to design the bridge to take the vessel strike and resist the event.

This is a massive undertaking with a central focus: don't collapse.

We will see localized failures, but maintain global stability...

What needs to be done? Well, a lot.

Can the approach spans be salvaged?

The approach spans are likely fine.

But are they tall enough to support the new main span? Does the bridge need more vertical clearance?

Officials will need to ask... do they replace the bridge in full, or attempt to reopen sooner with only the main span?"

[C C]

Usually the bridge pylons at the base of the bridge tend to have guard rails around so as to stop things bumping into them. Although looking at the footage the ship was high enough up that it was able to strike the pylon while still in the water. It's unfortunate that we only see engineering mistakes in hindsight, especially when it costs lives.

It is possible that the ship was trying to navigate during a change in tide. When navigating it's important to plan ahead for weather conditions, tide changes etc

I'm sure when it comes to commercial viability, deliveries are time sensative. If a ship is held up for any reason they can feel forced to make up the time which might mean setting out in less than ideal circumstances.

For the moment, it sounds like the ship itself was malfunctioning beforehand or undergoing some mechanical crisis.

Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Sc...e_collapse

[...] the vessel, which had two pilots embarked, reportedly notified the Maryland Department of Transportation that they had lost control of the vessel and an allision with the bridge was possible, citing a loss of propulsion.

A mayday was issued, which allowed traffic crossing the bridge to be halted.

The ship's lights were seen to go out and then come on again some moments later, just prior to the allision. Smoke was also seen coming from Dali in the leadup to the collision.

The ship also dropped its anchors as part of emergency procedures. At 01:27, the ship struck a support column of the bridge at a speed of 8 knots (15 km/h). The bridge strike and partial collapse were recorded on video. AIS data shows the ship traveling at a speed of 8.7 knots (16.1 km/h) at 01:25 before departing the channel and slowing to 6.8 knots (12.6 km/h) by time of the allision two minutes later.

[...] Maryland Transportation Authority representative on scene told rescuers that at least 20 workers were repairing potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse...

[Yazata]

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I just learned something!!! Oww! It hurts!

Both the wikipedia quotes CC posted and the Dept of Homeland Security use the words 'an allision with the bridge'. I assumed that was a misspelling of 'collision'.

But damn, 'allision' really is an English language word!

allision
noun
1. The act of dashing against, or striking upon.
2. The act of striking a fixed object, compare collision: the act of striking another vessel.

My head hurts...!

[Yazata]

Some things seem to have gone right as the Dali hit the bridge.

Check this out:

1:24:59 Alarms on bridge as power fails on the ship for the 1st time. This meant no lights, no radio, no engines and no rudder control. The pilot knows that they are dangerously close to the bridge.

1:25:30 Just 31 seconds later, the pilot has pulled out his cell phone and called pilot dispatch, telling them that the ship may hit the bridge, so close the bridge

1:26:39 Then 69 seconds later the Maryland Transportation Dept records an incoming call from pilot dispatch, saying that a ship is about to hit the bridge, saying to close the bridge immediately.

1:27:25 46 seconds later, the MD Transportation duty officer radios two units stationed at either end of the bridge, telling them to close the bridge.

1:29:00 to 1:29:33 'Black box' recorder on the ship records the sounds of the Dali crashing into the bridge.

That's extraordinarily quick action by these people, and their lack of hesitation probably saved lives. Unfortunately there wasn't time to pull the maintaince crew off the bridge.

Investigators on the bridge of the Dali (ntsb photo)

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