Bridge Collapse

A major bridge in the US city of Baltimore has collapsed into the Patapsco River after a container ship rammed 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 seven people, authorities say, while two people have been pulled from the water
The ship can be seen wedged into debris from the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which is 3km (1.6 miles) long and part of a major highway
Some construction workers were on the bridge at the time it collapsed, the city's mayor says, adding that the incident is "an unspeakable tragedy

https://twitter.com/i/status/1772532113088152042

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-68663071

Some dramatic footage on TV.
The ship is an unbelievable size, some 300 metres long and packed with so many containers.
It must be a dreadfully cumbersome thing to control.
The captain misjudged the opening between the supports by a long way, actually hitting one of them.
It was 1-30am or so local time, if it had been later there would have been hundreds of people using the crossing, as it is they are looking for 20 people.

^^^^Rubbish^^^^

You cant just stop a ship that size. It's not like applying the brakes on a car. I imagine there has been some mechanical failure. Hopefully the missing are soon found.

It's big

It is looking like it lost power as it was maneuvering into position, and it could not be steered, but in a lot of ports they use tugs to escort or push and pull ships out of and into port, and that is why, because an object as large as that ship can cause a lot of damage if it gets loose, and the latest is that 7 people are missing, but if that had happened during rush hour, I bet you could have been looking at there being many hundred or even thousands of casualties.

I have just been looking at the video of the collapse and it would seem that they actually managed to close the bridge to traffic before it was hit and collapsed, but there looks to have been roadworks going on in the middle region of the bridge, so those 7 people who are missing will probably be the crew which was working on the bridge.

It was in full reverse when the collision happened. Sounds like the steering failed. There were two pilots on board at the time.

I remember driving across this bridge back in the 80's on my way from New York to Washington, D.C. and two weeks later driving back north. I got quite a view of Baltimore from it.

Naughty Mitten wrote:^^^^Rubbish^^^^

Not sure what my rubbish is unless it’s “The captain misjudged the opening between the supports by a long way, actually hitting one of them”.
At that time I wasn’t aware of the steering failure which explains a lot.

"There has also been no pollution," it said, adding that the exact cause of the incident was yet to be determined

.https://news.sky.com/story/baltimore-bridge-latest-workers-possibly-in-the-water-as-video-shows-moment-of-collapse-13101977


I think  it will be days if not weeks before the cause is  known, and published

ramiejamie wrote:

Naughty Mitten wrote:^^^^Rubbish^^^^

Not sure what my rubbish is unless it’s “The captain misjudged the opening between the supports by a long way, actually hitting one of them”.
At that time I wasn’t aware of the steering failure which explains a lot.

The Captain was not in charge the two pilots were

"The Captain was not in charge the two pilots were".

What do I know about driving a ship !!!!!!

Nice one Admin
Be careful though, you'll be getting reprimanded by NM about who was driving the ship

Driving?

Ray, I got told off for 'driving' the tripboat on the Lancaster canal some years ago. Apparently it's 'steering'.

SO......WHO is driving?..........................

Biden says government will pay for the 'entire cost' of bridge repairs
"The federal government will pay for the entire cost of that bridge," Biden says, but adds that it would require members of congress to approve the spending.

A reporter asks the president if the company that owned the cargo ship that caused the accident should be held responsible for the repair costs.

Biden says: "That could be, but we are not going to wait for that to happen".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-68663071

I actually agree with the reporter. Isn't that why they pay insurance?

I knew it was ‘steering’ Admin, just my bit of silly nonsense.
And I know that you knew that I knew it was ‘steering’

Lolly, I definitely think that the ship’s insurers should be responsible for the cost, but it would take forever.

That ship will going nowhere soon, because a large portion of that bridge, including some of the road deck is well wrapped around the 'Bow Section' of the ship, probably pinning it to the bottom of the harbour.

Vigil for missing bridge workers

Mount Olive church

People are streaming into the church, including members of the community and Maryland officials.

Back in 2016, a cargo ship hit a bridge in Germany. The bridge didnt collapse, there were no deaths, only a couple of people with minor injuries. That tells me that European engineering is better than American!

Well said UJ
I suggest that US construction is financially driven, European construction better regulated and controlled.
It has been said though that the ship was huge, 300 metres long and packed with containers, I counted them 10 containers high above the deck by 14 containers wide, by 18 containers long, the weight of it must be huge.
A truly unstoppable force, but in this case meeting a moveable object.

ramiejamie wrote:Well said UJ
I suggest that US construction is financially driven, European construction better regulated and controlled.
It has been said though that the ship was huge, 300 metres long and packed with containers, I counted them 10 containers high above the deck by 14 containers wide, by 18 containers long, the weight of it must be huge.
A truly unstoppable force, but in this case meeting a moveable object.

I've seen similar figures. 300 metres long, 50 metres wide, and a tonnage of 95 000 tons. The stopping distance of such a shup is measured in miles. I've seen figures of 3 to 5 from normal speed, or, to put things another way, roughly 30 minutes!

Apparently, the bridge piers were designed to withstand an impact from a ship, and the bridge opened in 1977, but I would imagine that it will have been designed some years earlier in the early 1970s when the largest containers ships carried 2000 TEU's Explanation and now the largest container ships carry a TEU of 18000, so that gives an indication of how much larger and heavier container ships of today are now, in comparison to how they were in the 1970s, which in a nutshell, that bridge pier wasn't designed to withstand a collision from a vessel as large as the one which hit it.

Some good explanations from UJ and TTS of tonnages and why this disaster happened