Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

I've been watching this on the news. It's horrible.

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

Heartbreaking stuff. :(

This is exactly what happened in 1980 to the first Skyway bridge. My Dad missed that tragedy by 10 minutes. He saw the cargo ship coming in too close as he was going to work that morning.


This happened at 1:30am, but it looks like the entire bridge fell. Also being in Baltimore you'd have to think traffic would be more likely than other bridges at that time.

I hope Holden Pike is ok, I think he's in Baltimore.

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

Yeah, I am fine, everybody I know is good. I did use that bridge occasionally, but only once or twice a month to get to band gigs. It is not one of my regular routes.

Craziness.

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

That's not even the "scary" bridge in the area. There are lots of people who are terrified to use the much bigger Bay Bridge. This is not going to help anybody with bridge-crossing anxieties anywhere in the world.

Our gigantic Amazon fulfillment center is right on one side of that bridge. The traffic headaches this is going to create throughout the area for many, many months is not gonna be pretty.

I have driven across that bridge, and I recall it was extremely long. Was surprised to see the entire thing come down. That will be a massive undertaking to rebuild, and I hope this time the engineering has progressed along enough to withstand a strike like this without the entire structure collapsing.

It was a horrible accident. The bridge could have been fully protected by the addition of concrete "dolphin structures", which were added around the piers to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on Tampa Bay. See picture:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge

I feel certain these will be added to the new bridge construction in Baltimore. It's nuts that they didn't already have those in place, given the amount of commercial barge traffic.

Am I correct in what I’m reading that this particular ship hit a bridge before this one? Somewhere overseas.

Ever been to MDF there, then? I went back in 2022, and it was absolutely amazing.

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

I live 30 minutes give or take from the bridge and didn't even know this happened until I saw it on the news yesterday morning. Used to take that bridge all the time to get to certain parts of the city.

6 people presumed dead and I heard a while ago they've suspended the search for them. Very sad.

God knows what the visibility must be like down there. I would would really hate to be one of those divers. Chilling stuff.

This is from a diver that did recovery after the Skyway bridge went down.

https://www.wptv.com/news/state/retired-diver-pulled-victims-from-tampa-skyway-bridge-collapse-44-years-ago

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

For those who have never been here, this is what it was like driving over the bridge heading into the county

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZjeNy88rPM&t=1s

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

I just heard 2 men were recovered in a truck.

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

reminds me of the final destination 5 bridge collapse scene :eek:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prqB...xhcHNlIA%3D%3D

Yeah, I heard that as well! Same barge! Ummm... if it was already a little wonky, why was it still in operation? And if it had been inspected after that first run-in, whoever inspected it needs a stern talking-to. :(

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

Yeah it crashed into a port in Belgium a few years ago.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/eL9...ibextid=0VwfS7


I dont know if this link will work but its a video that shows the ship losing all power before hitting the bridge, then it came back on for a period, and then went out again unable to stop the collision.

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

It's hard to watch these videos of a failed ship that killed 6 people.

Re: Baltimore Bridge Total Collapse, Francis Scott Key bridge
 

Now the "media" is arguing about the name of the bridge!!!

Nice find. The video really puts the bridge into perspective.

Oh I'm sure they wanted it changed when it's rebuilt etc.

Amazing that not a single vehicle plunged into the water as it crossed the bridge. Because there was a steady stream of traffic going over.

They were able to stop traffic right before. The only cars on the actual bridge belonged to the construction people.

Still amazing to me.

I heard an interesting story about this. My wife has a college friend whose father was the ... I want to say pilot master? ... anyway, he was basically in charge of managing boat traffic through this harbor. He apparently insisted that they needed a protocol for stopping traffic on the bridge in an emergency, and had them drill it for times a year. When he retired he trained a replacement who he knew would maintain the protocol. Considering how little time they had between the mayday and the boat hitting the bridge, I guess it worked.

Yeah, by Maryland law you need a licensed pilot to bring any ship in and out of the port of Baltimore. As soon as the ship lost power, he called dispatch and told them they were going to hit the bridge and they had to close it. They had 90 seconds to do so.

Not just Maryland of course. Nationwide.