#Key bridge collapse

[alwaysbewoke]

always on time.

[dots3a]

The international world is watching this bridge collapse, causing the temporary closure of a major American port, and I wonder if they're thinking about how fragile American infrastructure is because of so many decades of relentless, unchecked growth that has come at the cost of the initial safety of and future buttressing of aging infrastructure.

The United States government was created by and for human traffickers and it has operated as one would expect a government created by and for human traffickers to operate. There is little consideration of human cost. There is little consideration of human safety. People who have galvanized the populace of the country to demand things like their own safety and fair treatment are literally murdered by this government.

There was nothing around that very important, very high traffic bridge to protect it from collision. If you look at pictures of the collapsed bridge, you'll see electrical poles and towers around it, all of them are surrounded by barriers so that boats can't just careen into them and take them out. There was nothing like that to protect the bridge designed for human beings.

The fragility of this empire is on display, while this empire is supporting a pariah state that is in direct violation of international law.

Wonder what's gonna happen.

[edaworks]

me, heading to court:

the traffic:

hmmm

[geezerwench]

[shannon-agins]

At 1:30 this morning, a fully loaded container ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, MD. The bridge is gone, just gone. Up to 20 people were still on the bridge when it collapsed, but it's been confirmed that 8 people were plunged into the water. 2 have been rescued, one declined medical intervention and the other was rushed to shock trauma.

Rescue operations are being handled by the coast guard, and authorities from Baltimore City, Baltimore county, Anne Arundel county, Harford county, and Howard county.

There will be MAJOR economic impacts for the US. The Baltimore harbor is completely closed currently, as it handles up to 90% of US car imports and the vast majority of raw materials imports and exports. Trucks cannot utilize the Harbor Tunnel, and HAVE to use the bridge or go completely around the west side of the beltway. There is no other alternative for these vehicles since I95 utilizes the tunnel system. Up to 10,000 jobs or more will be impacted locally.

It's been standing my whole life, and it's just gone. My favorite bridge because the view of the city, especially at the time of night when it was struck, is so pretty. One I gladly paid the tolls on just so I could see that view. And it's just gone.

[themirokai]

NGL this made me a little emotional.

By Kevin Kallaugher

[jawbonejoe]

For anyone worried about the bridge collapse in Bmore I’m okay and so is my crew. Terrible, horrifying news all around just the same

[as21-7]

new shipping incident just dropped

[cmdrwilkens]

Small addendums:

Its 95 THOUSAND tons. Now that number is her registered tonnage which represents an approximate weight of the ship based on the volume that she occupies. The actual weight of the ship, measure by displacement, will come close to what is known as "deadweight tonnage" when fully laden and that is for Dali close to 116,000 TONS (metric tons so about 116 million kilos).

In terms of forces applied lets just look at momentum, the inertia of the ship, which is how much weight at what speed. Running at about 7.8kn as she was right before the collision with 116,000 T this would lead to 380 million kg*m/s. Now in terms of the power of the collision, lets assume that the whole event lasted about 2.5 seconds (watching the footage its between 2 and 3s from the first spray of water to the ship stopping).

F= M * A. We accelerated (decelerated) from 7.8kn to 0 in 2.5s for this purpose to our A value is 1.6m/s^2. Our mass is 116mKg. So the force is 185.6 MJ applied over 2.5s which would mean a power of 74 MW....the bridge was not surviving that.

Last note is that as of this writing (Wednesday 3:50pm EDT) they have officially suspended rescue efforts and are now in recover efforts, meaning that the 6 workers still missing (its was 8 total with 2 recovered and safe) are now presumed deceased. So for folks trying to get a timeline they will be in recovery mode until those 6 folks are found and then salvage operations can commence...this is going to be a looooong process.

There is some pretty shocking footage out there of the Baltimore bridge collapse early this morning. I've already seen some incredibly wrong, incredibly insensitive Hot Takes about how shitty the bridge was to have fallen after being bonked by a boat, etc

Please don't be that person.

The facts will come out. Speculation is silly. In addition to loss of life, the Francis Scott Key bridge was a major arterial in that region's highway system. Its loss will be felt for years, and not just to daily commuters.

Baltimore harbor is closed. No shipping at all. This will impact supply chains in ways we cannot even assess yet.

It's pretty fucked up.

[parttimereporter]

Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse: Rescuers are searching for as many as 20 people in Patapsco River, official says

[odinsblog]

The crew of a massive container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday warned of power issues before the collision, which caused the bridge to collapse into the frigid Patapsco River, officials said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the warning from the ship’s crew likely saved lives.

“We’re thankful that between the mayday and the collapse, that we had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not on the bridge,” Moore said. He called those officials heroes.

Moore noted that the bridge was up to code at the time of the collapse. He said the collapse was a “shocking and heartbreaking” event for the people of Maryland who have used the bridge for 47 years.

(continue reading)

[ramorazinn]

“You should be buying it to live in for the next 30-40 years”

NO.

I mean, people do, yes. And more people could in previous generations. But most people cannot afford to buy their first house for the life they want — they have to buy it for the life they have. Otherwise they are throwing their money at landlords that they could be saving (or at least using it to gain equity, regardless of the housing market).

It’s ridiculous of you to demand that people spend their lives in a one-bedroom home because that’s what they could afford before they had kids.

It’s ridiculous of you to demand that people stay in a house that worked for them when they were able-bodied and now they can’t manage the stairs — or they need to care for a parent/grandparent/whatever who is not able-bodied because guess what? Assisted Living costs way more than a mortgage.

It’s ridiculous of you to demand that people stay in the same shitty neighborhood their whole lives because that’s what they could afford before they got a better job.

It’s ridiculous of you to even demand that people stay in a place that changes around them — and i don’t mean “black/brown people move in” but “the schools get overcrowded” or “they remove the bus stop” or… hey i know the Key Bridge collapse has rotated off the 24-hour news cycle, but do you grasp that lots of people are going to have to make the choice of moving house or moving jobs because of the increase in commute time and gas?

There’s a lot of space between “1-2 years” and “30-40 years” and guess what? The people you are judging here are not usually rich people. They are people making financial decisions to claw their way up to middle- or even lower-middle-class.

Rich people can buy the house they want the first time.

Why the fuck do people care so much about property and resale values on homes? Like seriously I get people use as an investment sometimes, but that's fucking stupid. Housing is a basic need and when buy a house you should be buying it to live in for the next 30-40 years probably unless something happens. You shouldn't be buying a house if you are only living in a city for a year or two in my opinion.

[slyandthefamilybook]

okay because I'm seeing some misinfo, here's the story on the Key Bridge collapse

What was the Key Bridge?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge (also called the Key Bridge, the Beltway Bridge, and the Outer Harbor Crossing) was steel-arch continuous-through-truss bridge spanning the Patapsco River south of the Baltimore Harbor. The bridge took 5 years to build and cost an estimated $145 million ($735 million in today's dollars). The full bridge project (including approaches) was 10.9 miles long, but the stretch over the Patapsco was 1.6 miles long and 4 lanes wide, and comprised a length of I-695, the Baltimore Beltway. It traveled between Hawkins Point and Dundalk, and in addition to the I-895 Harbor Tunnel was the primary way for Marylanders to cross from the Eastern Shore to the West. The bridge carried an estimated 11.5 million vehicles per year. There is a lane for ships to pass under the Key Bridge with enough clearance.

Was it structurally sound?

The bridge received its latest inspection in 2022 and received a 6/9 score, which is considered "fair" by federal standards. There was a concern with one of its columns, which was downgraded from a health index of 77.8 to 65.9, but it is not clear yet if this was one of the columns struck by the ship. In 1980 the bridge was struck by a different cargo ship which destroyed a concrete support structure, but the bridge itself was unharmed. There is as of yet no evidence that the bridge collapsed because of poor condition. Experts say the lesson to be learned is about the size and weight of modern cargo ships, and that the bridge was not to blame. Engineers have noted, however, that the bridge's piers lacked protective devices such as fenders.

What was the ship?

The MV Dali is a container ship flying the Singapore flag. It is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and operated by Synergy Marine Group Ltd. The ship is currently being chartered by Maersk, a Dutch shipping company. It was built in 2015 by Hyundai. The ship is 980 feet long and 157 feet wide. The ship's gross tonnage (its internal volume) is 95,128 tons (190,256,000 pounds). Its deadweight (the weight of cargo it can carry) is 116,851 tons (233,702,000 pounds). The ship was carrying 3,000 containers. The engine is a MAN-B&W 9S90ME putting out 41,480 kilowatts (55,626 horsepower).

Over its lifetime the Dali has been inspected 27 times, and only 2 faults were ever found. On June 27, 2023 the Dali was held in port in Chile due to an issue with the propulsion system. According to an inspector the pressure gauges on the heating system were "unreadable". The fault was fixed before the ship left port.

The Dali is crewed by 22 Indian nationals including 2 maritime pilots.

What happened?

The Dali arrived at the Port of Baltimore on March 23, 2024. At 12:44 AM on March 26, 2024 the Dali left port, beginning its journey to Colombo, Sri Lanka. At 01:26 AM the ship suffered a "complete blackout" and began to drift out of the shipping lane. It is not yet known what caused the electrical failure. The backup generator did not power the propulsion system. At around 01:26 AM the crew of the Dali sent a mayday distress call to the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) informing them of the loss of power and that a collision with the Key Bridge was possible. The anchors were dropped as an emergency measure to attempt to slow or stop the vessel. At the request of one of the pilots traffic flow over the bridge was immediately halted. Black smoke was seen coming from the Dali, which experts believe was the result of the crew managing to restart the power system to regain some maneuvering capability.

At 01:28 AM the Dali, traveling at 8 knots (considered to be a fast speed) collided with a support strut beneath the Key Bridge's metal truss at the southwest end of the bridge. A Baltimore resident said he heard the collision and that it "felt like an earthquake". Emergency teams began receiving 911 calls at 01:30 AM, and the Baltimore Police Department were alerted at 01:35 AM. One of the officers present radioed that he was going to go onto the bridge to alert the construction crew as soon as a second officer arrived, but the bridge collapsed seconds later.

What was the damage?

The Key Bridge has completely collapsed. The metal truss relies on structural tension from the bridge itself to maintain its rigidity. As soon as one of the support columns was destroyed, the rest of the bridge quickly followed.

The damage to the Dali is reported as minimal. The ship was impaled by the bridge's structure above the waterline, but has maintained watertight integrity. The crew has not reported any water contamination from its 1.8 million gallons of marine fuel. 13 containers carrying potentially hazardous material were damaged, and are being inspected by a team of Coast Guard divers. At least 5 vehicles including 3 passenger cars and a cement mixer were detected underwater, but authorities do not believe they were occupied

Who was hurt?

The crew of the Dali reports no casualties, except one crewmember who was hospitalized for minor injuries. There was a crew of 8 construction workers on the Key Bridge filling in potholes. 2 were immediately pulled from the water by rescue crews, with 1 being rushed to emergency care and the other reporting minor injuries and refusing treatment. The hospitalized worker has since been discharged. 1 of those rescued was Mexican. The remaining 6 remain missing. Of those 6, 2 have been identified:

Miguel Luna from El Salvador

Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval from Honduras

Of the remaining 4, 2 are Guatemalan nationals. Neither have been identified, but the Guatemalan Foreign Affairs Ministry has stated that they were a 26-year-old from San Luis, Petén, and a 35-year-old from Camotán, Chiquimula. The other 2 are presumed to be Mexican.

Rescue Efforts

The Coast Guard was immediately deployed for search-and-rescue operations. Military Blackhawk helicopters were seen over the river. Rescue efforts were ended at 07:30 PM on March 26, 2024 due to darkness, fog, and cold temperatures. Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said "Based on the length of time that we've gone in the search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature -- at this point, we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals still alive". Recovery operations resumed at 07:30 AM on March 27, 2024 with all 6 workers presumed dead.

No divers have yet entered the water underneath the bridge. Supervisory Special Agent Brian Hudson of the FBI's Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team said "the debris field is pretty sizable and I know that’s why they’re hesitant to send divers down because some of the debris is still shifting, the heavy weight of the rocks". The FBI has deployed Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) equipped with cameras and SONAR.

Aftermath

At 05:08 AM on March 26, 2024 Transportation Secretary Pete Buttegiege posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"I’ve spoken with Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott to offer USDOT’s support following the vessel strike and collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge. Rescue efforts remain underway and drivers in the Baltimore area should follow local responder guidance on detours and response."

At 07:30 AM on March 27, 2024 President of the Maryland State Senate Bill Ferguson posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"Over 15,000 in the Balt region rely on daily operations at Port of Baltimore to put food on the table. Today, with Del. @LukeClippinger and colleagues representing Port, we are drafting an emergency bill to provide for income replacement for workers impacted by this travesty."

At around 09:40 AM on March 26, 2024 Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott declared a State of Emergency to take effect at 10:30 AM March 26, 2024, and to last 30 days. Baltimore's Emergency Operations Plan was put into effect.

More than 1,000 personnel from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have been deployed to assist with clearing the debris and rebuilding efforts. President Joe Biden has pledged that the federal government will pay for the entire reconstruction of the bridge.

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recovered the Dali's data recorder, and will be inspecting both the Key Bridge and the Dali to determine the cause of the crash and the collapse. She says the investigation could take up to 2 years to complete.

Was it intentional?

According to William DelBagno, head of the FBI's Baltimore field office: "There is no specific or credible information to suggest there are ties to terrorism in this incident".

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said: "There are no indications this was an intentional act".

At least 3 people have been killed in accidents related to ships operated by Synergy in the past 6 years. In 2018 a person on board a Synergy ship in Australia was killed in an accident relating to the vessel's personnel elevator. In 2019 an officer aboard a Synergy vessel in Singapore fell overboard while performing maintenance. In 2023 at least one sailor was killed when a Synergy ship collided with a dredging ship in the Philippines. In the first two cases safety inspectors noted that proper safety procedures had not been adhered to.

Sources

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

[shannon-agins]

Photos taken this morning of the Key Bridge collapse.

Source: Ryan Scott on Facebook

[reality-detective]

An alternate angle on the Francis Scott Key Bridge shows what appears to be a large explosion, which you can see 👀 from the other angles I posted. Something reeks like a possible Black Swan Event?

Does it seem like a barge bumping into a pillar would cause the whole bridge to collapse? 🤔