Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

[Cheechako]

Looking at the area, it's difficult to believe they dont require tug assistance there.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Orion Jim

Has anyone seen a vid or photo which clearly indicates that either anchor was deployed? I’ve found nothing yet. Also no mention of the pilot or his actions.

I read a report that said one anchor was deployed. From the black smoke, that shows up between power outages, it would appear the ship went into reverse. From what I could see, going into reverse started the turn to starboard, which makes one ask if prop walk caused the turn. One of the images of the ships course shows it heading on bearing that would take it close to the port bridge support, before the turn to starboard, so the ship may have hit the bridge no matter what once they lost steering.

Reports say there were two pilots on board. A Mayday was issued and the bridge was closed. The video I saw showed traffic crossing, then no traffic except for the work crews on the bridge.

[Montanan]

Baltimore is the second largest volume transport harbor on the East Coast.

If the bridge wreckage inhibits transit by laden ships to the cargo loading and unloading locations of the inner harbor then a major logistic disruption will occur.

there is need to have the obstructing bridge wreckage promptly removed to enable navigation in the shipping channel.

It will be a long rebuild to provide for ground transport. The tunnel traffic was terrible before the bridge was built in the 1970's and will again be overwhelmed .

Saddened to hear of the missing / presumably dead and injured. Fortunately this occurred when the bridge was not busy else there would be far higher losses.

[CaptTom]

Anchor or not, chances of stopping that ship from 8.5 knots in three minutes is virtually nil. Without knowing the winds and currents at the time, it's hard to guess why her heading drifted to starboard.

It is surprising that they don't require assist tugs in that area.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Orion Jim

Has anyone seen a vid or photo which clearly indicates that either anchor was deployed? I’ve found nothing yet. Also no mention of the pilot or his actions.

I did see photos of the port side anchor deployed (at least) but I'm sure it was too late.

I suspect one result of this will be the requirement for more tugs in all ports and near all bridges.

[Iron E]

I don't know if Tugs are the answer. I was in St. Pete when Sunshine was hit. A Greyhound Bus dropped off the bridge, killing all on board. And 1 foolio that survived by the skin of his teeth ran back down the collapsed bridge because he forgot to shut his car doors... but Im getting off the topic.

They rebuilt using in water concrete diversions to prevent ships from hitting the bridge.
If those were in place here, this wouldn't have happened.

[davefromoregon]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Baltimore is the second largest volume transport harbor on the East Coast.

If the bridge wreckage inhibits transit by laden ships to the cargo loading and unloading locations of the inner harbor then a major logistic disruption will occur.

there is need to have the obstructing bridge wreckage promptly removed to enable navigation in the shipping channel.

It will be a long rebuild to provide for ground transport. The tunnel traffic was terrible before the bridge was built in the 1970's and will again be overwhelmed .

Saddened to hear of the missing / presumably dead and injured. Fortunately this occurred when the bridge was not busy else there would be far higher losses.

I suspect the obstruction caused by pieces of the broken bridge will be removed by the end of the week.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Don C L

I suspect one result of this will be the requirement for more tugs in all ports and near all bridges.

This. I anticipate exceptions for U.S. flagged vessels.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Montanan

If the bridge wreckage inhibits transit by laden ships to the cargo loading and unloading locations of the inner harbor then a major logistic disruption will occur.

there is need to have the obstructing bridge wreckage promptly removed to enable navigation in the shipping channel.

Demolition divers are amazing people. I've met some. They will get it cleared without delay, particularly since there's no reason to preserve any of it for forensics.

It will be a long rebuild to provide for ground transport.

I live in the Minneapolis area and have friends who heard the 35W bridge fall (the 35W bridge collapse in 2007 was caused by an engineering mistake; 13 died). The replacement was built in just over 13 months. The Key Bridge is three times longer but the problem is fundamentally similar.

[JPA Cate]

I watched the last video posted here in CF.

*The port anchor was said to have been dropped.

*When the ship went dark, power to the rudder stopped; power to everything stopped, and it slowed. Hypothesis was that putting it in reverse when the power came back on. It wasn't stoppable, but they got it slowed to a bit over one knot.

*The Ship warned the bridge people when it issued it's mayday, and they were able to close the bridge, thus saving many lives.

I don't know at what speed she would have lost steerage, but if it were max ebb, that could be pretty fast, by yacht standards.

I would not expect the water to be cleared for letting ships out of the harbor for days at least, possibly, weeks. It is a disaster for the shipping which is trapped in the harbor part of the bay. It is a disaster for the families involved, and for MD.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

I watched the last video posted here in CF.

*The port anchor was said to have been dropped...

Don L mentioned it up thread about the port anchor being deployed. One of the images I saw shows the port anchor deployed but there is too much debris to see the starboard anchor.

[Kettlewell]

I don't know ship engineering enough to speculate, but doesn't it seem strange that all power can be lost at once like that, and there is no instant backup way to power the rudder system?

[ArmyDaveNY]

This reminds me of the Tampa Bay bridge collapse in 1980, when a cargo ship hit the bridge.


I am rather disappointed that the Baltimore authority responsible for that bridge didn't put in protection like they did in Tampa Bay for the replacement bridge. I am not surprised, though. I sure that the lawyers will jump on that oversight and may already be en-route.

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by davefromoregon

I suspect the obstruction caused by pieces of the broken bridge will be removed by the end of the summer.

Fixed it for you.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by davefromoregon

I suspect the obstruction caused by pieces of the broken bridge will be removed by the end of the week.

End of summer.

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Fixed it for you.

That sounds doable to get the bridge structure and roadway removed. Certainly will be given a high priority.

This is Easter Week, not a lot happening until they locate the cars with bodies to identify and recover those that have died. Then we can expect some demolition removal begin.

Agree that they should be much greater abutment protection of the structures to keep ships from being able to have allision that is structurally damaging to the bridges. Not a very technically challenging task to pour a lot of concrete to fashion an immovable island, but an added cost.

I feel similarly about the cargo container cranes at the berth that get knocked over by a ship allision. Just provide a means for the cranes to be set back say thirty yards further back until the vessel is safely moored to the quay so as to be out of harms way of the ships overhanging bow.

Just ten days ago in Turkey cargo cranes were destroyed by a ship that failed its mooring procedure.
A Hong Kong-registered containership arriving at the private container port in Kocaeli, Turkey was unable to stop while maneuvering and knocked over the large container cranes. Initial reports said no one was injured in the dramatic accident, and the shipping company said no fuel contaminants were visible.

The video is totally cringeworthy. This happens all too often around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YionN1gv8_s