Holy ****, struck by a container ship. I’ve taken this bridge multiple times. Reportedly at least 10 cars and an entire construction crew went down with it. This is effectively the end of I-695.
OT: I-695 Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapses
- Thread starter Joey Bags
- Start date
Holy ****, struck by a container ship. I’ve taken this bridge multiple times. Reportedly at least 10 cars and an entire construction crew went down with it. This is effectively the end of I-695.
185' drop from road to water - Tappan Zee is 139'
Singapore flag and built in 2015.
Would have had a Baltimore harbor pilot
LIVESTREAM
Singapore flag and built in 2015.
Would have had a Baltimore harbor pilot
LIVESTREAM
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Absolutely terrible... thoughts go ot to all the families effected by this tragedy. The ship was very off course, clear visibility seems to be no adverse weather....
Horrible. Yeah, looks like the ship had a total loss of power. Then you are at the mercy of momentum and the elements. Probably didn’t have enough time to drop anchors but even then momentum might have been too much.
That bridge was also the main route for any vehicle carrying hazmat - can’t go 95 or 895 because of the tunnels.
That bridge was also the main route for any vehicle carrying hazmat - can’t go 95 or 895 because of the tunnels.
Hey that's the bridge that Jimmy McNulty found that dead girl near in season 2 of the wire 
Absolutely terrible. Only two survivors. Between the fall and water temps very unlikely anyone else survived.
From a commerce side that basically shuts down the Baltimore Harbor commercial business for a long time.
In 2022 Baltimore Harbor was the #11 busiest port in the US.
From a commerce side that basically shuts down the Baltimore Harbor commercial business for a long time.
In 2022 Baltimore Harbor was the #11 busiest port in the US.
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Thank God it wasn't during rush hour as the number of casualties would probably been much higher. How long will this block the port?
There will be a massive effort to clear out the bridge quickly . Reconstruction will be a priority but will still take more than a year.
The I-35 bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis in 2007 was much shorter, and it took 13 months to rebuild
Surely looks like mechanical failure of some kind, when lights come back on black smoke indicates max power on engines, they knew they were in trouble. Light Failure indicates possible Generator failure which probably means all electronic ship controls and navigation equipment failure.
Human error will be the cause. Ya cant have mechanical error without human manipulation.
Human error will be the cause. Ya cant have mechanical error without human manipulation.
Man, watching the vehicles going over knowing what was about to happen was heart racing and nail baiting.
A year? Going to take longer than that with the usual political and other shenanigans.
Besides that, how long can a 1.6 mile bridge be legitimately rebuilt and ready to go?
I had such a weird reaction to this when I woke up and saw the news. I guess because it's home; I really felt it. I drove across that bridge a billion times. God help those people...
Horrifying
isnt there a system enabled to avoid what just happened, not familiar with shipping but arent these boats steered and in contact with someone on land
isnt there a system enabled to avoid what just happened, not familiar with shipping but arent these boats steered and in contact with someone on land
I can’t even imagine what those in that construction crew went through the moment the bridge dropped. You can see the lights from their vehicles in the middle of the bridge.
WOW.
Yeah, it must have been horrifying.
Well, duh, my comment is pretty dumb. No kidding...
I have one of these on my key chain for exactly incidents like this one.
You can find the vessel on this site, it's live sea traffic. You can see the rescue ships all around (click on them to identify) click on map type upper right for satellite view.
Nothing dumb about it.
Or not as dumb as me saying, “As many times I drove my HSs equipment van to/from games on the TP Extension or that new Rt 7 bridge…” “Or my daughter driving her kids over the Ben Franklin,” which was my first thought.
Very scary.
Few container vessels north of the bridge gotta be stuck for a while.
Virginia port and ny/nj about to get real backed up. Rates back to $10k!
Virginia port and ny/nj about to get real backed up. Rates back to $10k!
I’m no economics expert. But does this mean we’re going to start paying $200 for a $50 pair of sneakers?
Chaos with these huge vessels that were on way in. Not like turning around your John Deer I assume. .
Lol no. They always look for excuse to raise freight rates when volume is slow though.
Evidently there was a mayday signal from the ship and they were able to slow traffic on to the bridge. Obviously, it all happened very quickly so a complete stoppage of traffic was not possible.
What a horrible tragedy - watching the video you can see the ship striking the support, obvious they're trying to move it but too little too late. Those things are so massive that once they get off course you need a huge amount of space to regain control.
Last report I saw said there were 20+ cars in the water in addition to the construction crew.
Last report I saw said there were 20+ cars in the water in addition to the construction crew.
In Maryland there has always been the great debate about which is faster when heading north: going through downtown tunnels on 95, or going around to the East on 695 (Baltimore Beltway across the Key Bridge). People pull out their stopwatches on this. It's closer than one looking at a map would think.
I guess that debate will be put on hold...
I guess that debate will be put on hold...
I'm not saying it is likely but my initial concern went to the possibility of a cyber attack.
Yes. It is most likely equipment failure/operator error. But the way the world is right now cyber is an unnerving but small possibility.
bac,
if you are talking about a Vessel Traffic Services, either run by the US Coast Guard and/or local port authorities, it will not matter if a ship loses power. The folks on shore can make safety broadcasts for others to steer clear or help respond, but all control for that ship comes from the folks on the bridge of the ship. It is hard to speculate on what happened, but it certainly appears from video as if the ship lost power at least twice. Who knows how the harbor pilot and captain of the ship reacted to the first loss of power. Perhaps they thought everything was cool and "proceed on course" once power was restored after the first loss of power.
Normally if a ship losses power one has to determine what actions to take. If in calm open waters, there is no danger and you can just sit and drift until it is fixed. In restricted waters, like in the port, there are multiple factors to consider.... what is the traffic around me?... where is the shoal water?.... how strong are the winds/currents?..... do i drop anchor(s) now or wait?....
Will be interesting and probably sobering once the investigation is complete.
I was looking at the night video and day photos, and it starts to seem like the cargo ship was too big for the bridge. Ship was barely going to make it under the bridge's road 185 ft in the air. From what I gathered searching, cargo ships have been increasing in size quite a lot since 1972 (when bridge was built). I also came across articles saying bridge engineering was good but the ship was too massive.
"The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in 1977. Its design is a steel truss bridge. The bridge was resting on concrete piers before the impact, experts said based on footage shared online.
"The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it — it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs," Ian Firth, a structural engineer and bridge consultant in the UK, told the BBC. "So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force."
"The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in 1977. Its design is a steel truss bridge. The bridge was resting on concrete piers before the impact, experts said based on footage shared online.
"The support is a very, relatively, flimsy structure when you look at it — it's a kind of trestle structure with individual legs," Ian Firth, a structural engineer and bridge consultant in the UK, told the BBC. "So, the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact force."