Cargo ship destroys interstate bridge in Baltimore

[Kaitzilla]

The Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore is gone.

A cargo container ship crashed into it and the whole thing collapsed.

It was past 1:00 AM, so not much traffic.

Still, it is mass casualty event and they are searching for 20 people.

Never seen anything like this before.

Looks like an accident after sudden power failure on ship.

 

[lymond]

I saw it in the WP this morning with footage of the actual crash. Shocking!

I’d link it but the Post is a pay site.

 

[PhroX]

Never seen anything like this before.

There have been some similar events in the past:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasman_Bridge_disaster

 

[Kyriakos]

So why was the ship moving literally next to the support structure?
Assuming such ships routinely go below the bridge, that (and the other supports) was the only point where it'd cause it to collapse.

 

[PhroX]

So why was the ship moving literally next to the support structure?

Initial reports suggest that it had lost control - there were indications of a power failure on the ship shortly before the crash.

 

[Kaitzilla]

The port of Baltimore is finished.

Nothing can sail into or out of the city for a long time with the collapsed bridge blocking everything.

They need to go slow to rescue people first, then carefully remove debris.

Baltimore Bridge Disaster to Test Trucking, Port Flexibility Yet Again

An economic disruption along the US East Coast is unfolding with potentially tragic human consequences after a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, sending nearly the entire roadway structure crumbling into the water.

www.bloomberg.com

Of secondary concern in the days ahead will be tough questions about the effect on business, commuters, holiday travelers and the economy across the region.

The Port of Baltimore — the biggest handler of US imports and exports of cars and light trucks — looks to be out of commission indefinitely.

 

[r16]

it didn't meant to move that way . Conspiracy wise , it will be years before the American Right discovers a container ship destroyed a whole port in Turkey with collapsing waterside cranes just a week ago . But ı expect the closure of Suez will soon be remembered .

 

[Thorgalaeg]

I am surprised this does not happen more often with the number of massive ships like that passing under bridges every day around the workld and knowing how often they have all kind of failures since most sail under not very exigent flags, not only on taxes but also maintenance/safety wise. There is not way any bridge can withstand a collision with a ship of such size.

 

[Smellincoffee]

From what I was reading on the Baltimore Sun, the ship contacted authorities that it had lost power, so highway patrol was beginning to block access to the bridge before it collapsed. Could have been worse with normal traffic, or if it had happened later in the morning during rush hour. There's one video on twitter, presumably taken by highway patrol who were monitoring its approach, showing two, possibly three power outages: the ship loses power, restores itself, loses power amid a huge cloud of black smoke, gains it again but is already drifting towards collision, then possibly loses power a third time before impact.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

I guess they lost power to the anchor (?)

 

[r16]

fifth post in the echo chamber (ı follow for news) is from a ship captain says no anchor would have stopped that much of a ship .

 

[Birdjaguar]

The port will be fine once they create a channel. The road traffic is screwed for a very long time.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Here is another video of the crash from Twitter.

The cargo container ship is sailing towards the camera the entire time until striking the bridge support.

The ship is 900 feet long, or 3 American football fields lined up in a row and masses almost 100,000 tons.

MV Dali - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No indications yet it was anything but an accident due to power loss.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772597999627120656

 

[IglooDame]

Here is another video of the crash from Twitter.

The cargo container ship is sailing towards the camera the entire time until striking the bridge support.

The ship is 900 feet long, or 3 American football fields lined up in a row and masses almost 100,000 tons.

MV Dali - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No indications yet it was anything but an accident due to power loss.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772597999627120656

"It had to be a cyber attack" says the idiot with absolutely zero knowledge of how ship engineering systems operate.

Good thought about the anchor, @Klaus Hergersheimer , but I don't think it would have made a significant difference with a ship that big underway. Certainly wouldn't have hurt, though, and if I was a bridge watchstander that'd have been something I'd have recommended.

 

[GenMarshall]

“Are cargo ships crapping out on March becoming a tradition now?” - Cody, Alternate History Hub

 

[warpus]

My grandpa used to say "It's never good when a ship crashes into a bridge" and he was probably right

 

[Crezth]

Lots more of this in the future for this infrastructure-hating country. Stay tuned, football fans.

 

[homeyg]

I was surprised how quickly the entire bridge went down. Why no "bumpers"? And also, I thought that this bridge must be poorly designed if that causes the entire thing to go down like that...

 

[Cutlass]

I was surprised how quickly the entire bridge went down. Why no "bumpers"? And also, I thought that this bridge must be poorly designed if that causes the entire thing to go down like that...

I'm not sure on the construction why it doesn't have more protection for the uprights. I assume that at it's construction, they were considered unnecessary. As to why it went down so fast, and so completely, spans like these are cantilevered. Which is to say that the weight on one side balances the weight on the other. So you knock out one piece, you knock out the weight that countered the weight of the far side, and so the far side pivots on its support, and also breaks away and falls. This is a relatively inexpensive way to build a bridge with a long span. And works so long as no part of it is broken. By, say, running a freaking huge ship into the base of it.

 

[homeyg]

I'm not sure on the construction why it doesn't have more protection for the uprights. I assume that at it's construction, they were considered unnecessary. As to why it went down so fast, and so completely, spans like these are cantilevered. Which is to say that the weight on one side balances the weight on the other. So you knock out one piece, you knock out the weight that countered the weight of the far side, and so the far side pivots on its support, and also breaks away and falls. This is a relatively inexpensive way to build a bridge with a long span. And works so long as no part of it is broken. By, say, running a freaking huge ship into the base of it.

I'm familiar with a cantilever. You can use a piezoelectric cantilever to do atomic force microscopy.