Collision of cargo ship with, and collapse of, Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore (26/03)

[Sun Chariot]

Sobering reading this morning. Thoughts with all of those affected.
(09:00 GMT) now declared a mass casualty incudent.

Baltimore bridge collapses into river after being hit by cargo ship
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-68663071
"A major bridge in the US city of Baltimore has collapsed into the Patapsco River after a container ship crashed into it. The bridge snapped and plunged into the water at around 01:30 ET (05:30 GMT) along with vehicles and people.
A huge search operation is under way for at least 7 people, authorities say; while two people have been pulled from the water. The ship is now wedged into debris from the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which is 3km (1.6 miles) long, part of a major highway."

The actual moment of collapse

Moment bridge collapses after being hit by ship

A large ship has struck the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, causing a major collapse.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[birchesgreen]

Scary how quickly it collapsed.

 

[AM9]

The bridge carried the main i695 interstate (a link in the main i95 Eastern Seaboard route from the border with Canada to Miami) as the most eastern crossing over the Patapsco river.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Awful to watch, and for it to happen at night will only hinder the rescue.

This is going to have huge consequences for Interstate traffic along the eastern seaboard for months, if not years to come. It's also going to cause a major headache for the Port of Baltimore.

 

[najaB]

Scarily similar to the Sunshine Skyway bridge disaster.

(Mandatory quote)

The southbound span (opened in 1971) of the original bridge was destroyed on the morning of May 9, 1980, when the 606 ft (185 m) freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a support column during a sudden squall, causing the catastrophic failure of over 1,200 ft (370 m) of the span.

Thoughts are with those who are affected.

 

[Strathclyder]

Jeez, that was awful to watch. For it to happen at night will only hinder rescue and recovery efforts.

Looks like a virtual repeat of the Sunshine Skyway disaster in Tampa Bay nearly 44 years ago, at least from what we can see from the footage. But in that case, only one span was hit. The original crossing was composed of two spans dating from 1954 (northbound) and 1971 (southbound) respectively; the latter was the one that was hit by the Summit Venture. Another example would be the Tasman Bridge disaster in Hobart, Australia from 1975.

Of course, we won't know what precisely happened here for some time (navigation error, serious mechanical fault with the ship etc) and I therefore won't speculate until more is known, but my heartfelt condolences go out to all who have lost their lives here or have been caught up in the chaos.

Scarily similar to the Sunshine Skyway bridge disaster.

Soon as I saw the footage, that was the first historic disaster of a similar nature to come to mind.

 

[najaB]

For it to happen at night will only hinder rescue and recovery efforts.

Hopefully though it will mean that traffic was lighter than it could have been.

 

[YorkshireBear]

It looks like unfortunately highway works were ongoing at the time with several teams working on either the structure or the highway.

Unconfirmed reports the boat has sunk too but not seen that anywhere reliable.

Those large Truss bridges always look very susceptible but at the end of the day, how do you design a bridge of that span to have a huge ship just career into it on a direct hit
UPDATE, ship has not sunk and is wrapped up in the bridge.

 

[Strathclyder]

Hopefully though it will mean that traffic was lighter than it could have been.

We can only pray that this is the case, I'm not exactly optimistic though. Either way, I can scarcely imagine what the moment of collapse felt like for those who were on the bridge, especially if they saw the ship headed straight for the pier and how quickly it went down once hit.

 

[Darandio]

Unconfirmed reports the boat has sunk too but not seen that anywhere reliable.

Certainly still afloat, there's a Youtube live stream that covers the port and it was looking directly at the bridge at before, during the incident and still is currently.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Certainly still afloat, there's a Youtube live stream that covers the port and it was looking directly at the bridge at before, during the incident and still is currently.

Thanks yes, updated my post.

Interestingly BBC says all the ships lights went off the boat suddenly slowed and veered off course and smoke was seen coming from the boat before it hit the pier. Two harbour pilots on board too.

 

[Darandio]

Thanks yes, updated my post.

Interestingly BBC says all the ships lights went off the boat suddenly slowed and veered off course and smoke was seen coming from the boat before it hit the pier. Two harbour pilots on board too.

Ah yes, didn't notice that update!

The Youtube stream I mentioned does show everything that happened prior to impact and confirms what the BBC are saying.

 

[ainsworth74]

Not sure if this is the live stream others are referring to but I've found one here:

Ship enters frame around 01:22:54 (use the time stamped at the top left of the image not the YouTube timings) and hits the bridge around 01:28:48. It does seem like the deck lights switch off and on a few times and there's a large puff of smoke from the funnel (perhaps engaging more power from the engines?). Whatever happened what a horrific accident. It doesn't bear thinking about the workers and others on the bridge who probably had no warning or only a few seconds that the bridge was about to vanish around their feet.

 

[randyrippley]

Going to severely affect support logistics in the event of an escalated war with Russia.
This has taken out the biggest RORO port on the east coast

 

[edwin_m]

Going to severely affect support logistics in the event of an escalated war with Russia.
This has taken out the biggest RORO port on the east coast

I'd have thought the remains of the bridge could be dragged away or blown up pretty fast once the rescue and recovery is done.

 

[randyrippley]

I'd have thought the remains of the bridge could be dragged away or blown up pretty fast once the rescue and recovery is done.

there's a lot of metal in that bridge, it's going to have to be cut and lifted off that ship to make sure it doesn't sink. That means getting several very big cranes and barges on site. Then you have to cut and lift the rest........you're looking at months or longer.
On top of which the loss of the road is going to cause access issues

 

[greyman42]

Those large Truss bridges always look very susceptible but at the end of the day, how do you design a bridge of that span to have a huge ship just career into it on a direct hit

Yes, i have seen a few documentaries on the various Sky channels that cover this sort of disaster and it always seems to be this design of bridge.

 

[paul1609]

Yes, i have seen a few documentaries on the various Sky channels that cover this sort of disaster and it always seems to be this design of bridge.

The Almo bridge in Sweden was a standard concrete type bridge: https://www.reddit.com/r/Catastroph...lmö_bridge_in_sweden_collapsed_at_0130_am_on/

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

there's a lot of metal in that bridge, it's going to have to be cut and lifted off that ship to make sure it doesn't sink. That means getting several very big cranes and barges on site. Then you have to cut and lift the rest........you're looking at months or longer.
On top of which the loss of the road is going to cause access issues

Unduly pessimistic. The US Army Corps of Engineers has responsibility for maintenance of just about all major waterways in the US and will certainly have the expertise and equipment to deal with this. For sure it will be more than a few days to remove the wreckage but I think we are looking at weeks rather than months.

 

[swt_passenger]

The BBC are reporting that because the vessel broadcast a Mayday call, they were able to stop traffic on the bridge. Is that actually realistic in only a matter of seconds?

 

[paul1609]

The BBC are reporting that because the vessel broadcast a Mayday call, they were able to stop traffic on the bridge. Is that actually realistic in only a matter of seconds?

Possibly, In the Almo Bridge disaster I refer to above the middle of the bridgewas lost. A lorry driver who was able to see the missing section stopped his lorry reversed and blocked the single carriageway. Several car drivers coming in the opposite direction didnt realise that the bridge section was missing and in the dark and mist just drove over the edge of the missing section for several minutes after the collision had occured. The road that goes over the Keys Bridge in Baltimore is probably Baltimores equivalent of the M25.

 

[DelW]

The BBC are reporting that because the vessel broadcast a Mayday call, they were able to stop traffic on the bridge. Is that actually realistic in only a matter of seconds?

I was surprised by that too. Google Streetview shows a variable message sign on the approach, so if the relevant control room was monitoring maritime radio traffic it might be possible. Quick reactions if so though.

Screenshot attached.

 

[Darandio]

The BBC are reporting that because the vessel broadcast a Mayday call, they were able to stop traffic on the bridge. Is that actually realistic in only a matter of seconds?

Why seconds? It's quite clear from the footage leading up to the collision that they would have been aware for some time that they were going to hit it.

 

[swt_passenger]

Why seconds? It's quite clear from the footage leading up to the collision that they would have been aware for some time that they were going to hit it.

I used ‘seconds’ because a number of the reports are suggesting they only had “ninety seconds” to react.

 

[Ediswan]

Ships have been hitting bridges for decades. I rather suspect there was a plan for closing the bridge to road traffic.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I used ‘seconds’ because a number of the reports are suggesting they only had “ninety seconds” to react.

Traffic can be seen on the bridge until a couple of seconds before it hits, but then there does seem to be an odd lull.

 

[edwin_m]

Yes, i have seen a few documentaries on the various Sky channels that cover this sort of disaster and it always seems to be this design of bridge.

A ship that size going that speed hitting just about any pier of any bridge would end up collapsing a large part of the structure. For me the big question is why there was so little protection against that happening. There is virtually no protection around the base of the pier to take the brunt of any impact, and only one "dolphin" (effectively a small artificial island intended to stop an errant ship) per side on the approach.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Poor confused ol' Joe Biden. Attached from Daily Mail online 26th March (mods have subsequently removed the web page link I added to this post):

In his national address, vowing to rebuild the fallen bridge, Biden talks of:"...which I have been over many many times, commuting from the state of Delaware by train or by car".

But It's always been a road bridge.

 

[JD2168]

One person recovered from the collapse has been released from hospital. Still only 2 people have been found so far.

A colleague has said in a report on Sky News that the workers were on a break when the Dali hit the bridge & some were in trucks at the time.

 

[najaB]

Poor confused ol' Joe Biden. In his national address, vowing to rebuild the fallen bridge, he talks of having travelled over it by train. But It's always been a road bridge.

It's a very odd sentence construction:

“About 1.30am, a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which I have been over many many times, commuting from the state of Delaware by train or by car,” he said.

“I’ve been to Baltimore harbour many times.”