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Baltimore Maryland Bridge Collapse
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2024 4:58 am
by Tom49801
This morning around 1:30am eastern time, an outbound container ship from the Port of Baltimore in Maryland evidently lost power & struck a support for the Francis Scott Key Bridge (locally we call it "the Key Bridge") route 695 (the beltway around Baltimore) & the bridge collapsed with traffic & workers on the bridge. I've traveled this bridge many times while I was working for Amtrak.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDceU9x58vc
Re: Baltimore Maryland Bridge Collapse
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2024 4:58 pm
by C&O Dispatcher
I worked on a swing bridge over the Mississippi River between Rock Island, IL and Davenport, IA for about 5 years for BNSF (formerly DRI Line). If interested, you can Google "Crescent Bridge
Rock Island" and there are some photos.
https://youtu.be/9V0kuXKsJLA?si=581af_fnHe3d5WAg Although there were no container ships, a towboat shoving 15 loaded barges could pack quite a punch! There was a wood timber protection pier (with concrete poured on the upstream and downstream ends) to protect the turntable (and the span when opened). Never had a head-on-hit, but several glancing blows on downstream moves. At least one hit hard enough to cause the tow to break apart and some barges to sink in the river after clearing the bridge. I heard a report today that there was some protection surrounding the piers on the Key Bridge in Baltimore, but it was not sufficient in this case. They said the container ship rode up over the protection and struck the supporting pier directly.