A major bridge in Baltimore, MD has collapsed after being crashed into by a container ship. The Francis Scott Key Bridge, which spans 1.6 miles over the Patapsco River, was hit by the 1000-foot-long ship just before 01:30 ET.
Rescue efforts are ongoing for as many as seven people believed to be missing, while two people have already been pulled from the water alive. As the bridge was struck, contractors were working on the bridge to repair a concrete deck.
According to early reports, the container ship ‘Dali’ was leaving the port of Baltimore en route to Sri Lanka. On approach to the bridge, the ship deviated from its charted route, colliding with one of the bridge’s main concrete pillars. Upon impact, the bridge quickly crumbled into the river.
The bridge opened in 1977, designed as a steel arch continuous through truss bridge. At the time of its completion, the bridge’s main 1.6-mile span was the third longest of any continuous truss bridge in the world.
To maintain its structural integrity, truss bridges rely on beams connected by pins to form a series of triangular units, spreading tension and compression forces across the structure. In contrast to a frame structure, which can allow for bending and shear forces on a structure (i.e. forces acting perpendicular to the main axis), truss structures are typically only subjected to axial forces (acting in tension or compression along the main axis).
Baltimore bridge collapse sends vehicles tumbling into water https://t.co/vIhJW4TDqJ pic.twitter.com/C00wu1Nm6i
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 26, 2024
In the instance of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, the shear force of the ship striking the bridge perpendicular to its main structural axis resulted in the bridge’s entire structure rapidly failing. The reliance of truss systems on spreading equal loads across the entire structure also means that the failure of the bridge’s southwest section comprised the bridge as a whole, hastening the collapse.
The reason for the crash is currently unknown. A CNN analysis has noted that the ship's lights flickered and veered off course shortly before hitting the bridge, while ABC has reported that the ship “lost propulsion” as it was leaving the port, and warned officials of a possible collision.
#/media/File:Francis_Scott_Key_Bridge_Eastern_View.jpg){kind=link}
7 Comments
I hope Baltimore finds the lost people and fixes up quickly. Property management and engineering management needs some fidelity checks around transfer in management.
The Port of Baltimore needs far more rigorous protocol for tugboat pilots guiding these ships to open water
That only makes sense as a response if the cause was pilot errors/bad steering. Pilots can't exactly control for power failure(s), no?
There was no tugboat involved.
It was weird this morning waking up to articles that were like “Baltimore bridge closed to traffic after incident” Um… not exactly representing the reality of the situation there….
Hope they find the rest of the people.
It’s weird to hear something like this early this morning.
A long road lies ahead, after Loma Prieta quake damaged east span of SF Bay bridge, it took 14 years before the new span opened. Bureaucratic hanglings, politics and cost overruns to 6bil. Baltimore needs to use SF bay bridge as an example of a debacle to abvoid - the new span across Tappan Zee near Nyack is how you replace bridges
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.