On the topic of bridges: Sunshine Skyway Bridge-1980 / Francis Scott Key Bridge-2024

[Lord_Slayer]

This morning, I woke up to hear that a ship had crashed into a bridge, taking it down. Everything I have heard about it so far, is that it was an accident. The ship lost power/control and took out the bridge pier.

For many of you, it might be the first time you heard of such a thing.

For me (and perhaps many others) it is the second time in our lifetime.


In May 1980, the Sunshine Skyway bridge stretched across the mouth of Tampa Bay, until a ship caught in a squall collided with a support column and took down 370m of the bridge. Because of the rain, many drivers had no idea the bridge was down, or could not stop quickly enough because of the wet conditions.

35 people were lost that day.
 

Spoiler

 

Now a new Sunshine Skyway was built, just to the east of the old. The main difference is that now the bridge supports have massive piers surrounding them, protecting the bridge from errant ship traffic. Parts of the old bridge still remain to this day being used as fishing piers.

 

Spoiler

Which brings us to this morning.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was completed in 1977, crossing over a very busy shipping route.

Google maps/earth show the bridge as having its supports run straight into the water, with no bumpers or guides for shipping that can be seen. The 2 octagonal objects to the north side are bumpers/caissons for power poles going across the river, and they are further apart then the bridge supports the shipping lane runs through.
 

Spoiler

 

One would think, after seeing what had occurred in one port city, one would look at their own bridges and ask 'Could that occur here?'
 

Based on 1980 and now today, I'd say the answer is 'yes'



Below is a recording I found on Youtube of the collision.

What makes this different from what you have seen on the news, is it shows the preceding 5 minutes before the crash. You can see the ships lights going off and on.
You can also see the vehicle traffic going over the bridge, as well as the flashing lights of the work crew vehicles.

As of this post, 2 people were pulled from the water. The 6 people, part of the work crew, are missing. They have also located 5 vehicles on the riverbed using sonar.
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Snargfargle]

1 hour ago, Lord_Slayer said:

You can also see the vehicle traffic going over the bridge, as well as the flashing lights of the work crew vehicles.

Since 1960, thirty-five bridges have been severely damaged or destroyed by being run into by ships or barges.

Someone in the comments of one news videos said that he worked in the area and that the ship was having electrical issues before it even came anywhere near the bridge.

[Lord_Slayer]

5 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

Someone in the comments of one news videos said that he worked in the area and that the ship was having electrical issues before it even came anywhere near the bridge.

if you watch that last video I posted, you can see those issues.

[Wolfswetpaws]

Let the truth be discovered and justice be done.

[Snargfargle]

Casual Navigation is a pretty good channel, not prone to idle speculation. His preliminary analysis, which he makes sure that the viewer knows is preliminary, based on the limited data thus far, is quite plausible. That was a fully-loaded outbound container ship of almost the same size and tonnage as a Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier.

Dali
Tonnage    116,851
Length    984 ft
Beam    158 ft

USS Gerald Ford
Tonnage 100,000
Length    1,092 ft
Beam    134/256 ft (waterline/flight deck)

	“The vessel notified MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) that they had lost control of the vessel” and a collision with the bridge “was possible,” according to an unclassified Department of Homeland Security report. “The vessel struck the bridge causing a complete collapse.” "The Dali's emergency generator was likely responsible for the lights coming back on after the initial blackout. "There was still some steerage left when they initially lost power,” he said. “We’ve been told the ship never recovered propulsion. The emergency generator is a diesel itself – so if you light off the generator, that’s also going to put off a puff of exhaust.”"
	“The pilot was directing navigation of the ship as it happened,” he said. “He asked the captain to get the engines back online. They weren’t able to do that, so the pilot took all the action he could. He tried to steer, to keep the ship in the channel. He also dropped the ship’s anchor to slow the ship and guide the direction." Note this was a Maryland-certified pilot. Pilots are some of the most highly-trained seamen in the world. They have been called the "surgeons of the sea." Almost all of the knowledgeable people thus interviewed say that it was extremely fortune that the wreck occurred in the middle of the night and not at rush hour. If it had occurred at rush hour we might have been talking about thousands of casualties here.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/baltimore-bridge-collapse-wasnt-first-major-accident-for-giant-container-ship-dali/ar-BB1kzkfA

 

Edited March 27 by Snargfargle

[Snargfargle]

Those are the luckiest two drivers in the world.

 

[Amaruk]

Sal at What is Going on With Shipping has a pair of vids and a Q&A regarding MV Dali's allision with the Key Bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ensign Cthulhu]

On 3/27/2024 at 4:40 AM, Snargfargle said:

Those are the luckiest two drivers in the world.

Tasman Bridge disaster, 1975.

[Wolfswetpaws]

3 hours ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

Tasman Bridge disaster, 1975.

Tacoma Bridge Collapse: The Wobbliest Bridge in the World? (1940) | British Pathé

 

[Snargfargle]

1 hour ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Tacoma Bridge Collapse: The Wobbliest Bridge in the World? (1940) | British Pathé

 

There's a new bridge there now. In fact, there are two bridges with one-way traffic on each. I've been over the older one a few times going scuba diving in the 90s and early 2000s. They were finishing up building the new span about the time I left the PNW. The remains of the old bridge was a dive site. I know some people who dove it. I never did though because it was a technical dive, deep and with fast currents. You had to have a chase boat with an operator who knew what he was doing following you to pick you up.

Edited March 29 by Snargfargle

[Snargfargle]

An Army Corps of Engineers lieutenant general said today the span of bridge you see pinning the cargo ship there weighs about nine million pounds.

 

Navy salvage crane barges are on the way. The Port of Baltimore is an important one but actually is "one of the smallest container ports on the Northeastern seaboard, handling 265,000 containers in the fourth quarter of last year, according to container shipping expert Lars Jensen. The Port of New York and New Jersey handled around 2 million containers in that same period, and Norfolk Port in Virginia handled 850,000, so the flow of containers to Baltimore can likely be redistributed to bigger ports."

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2WbnI0_5P8

https://gcaptain.com/port-of-baltimore-key-facts-and-figures/

 

[Wolfswetpaws]

7 hours ago, Snargfargle said:

An Army Corps of Engineers lieutenant general said today the span of bridge you see pinning the cargo ship there weighs about nine million pounds.

 

Navy salvage crane barges are on the way. The Port of Baltimore is an important one but actually is "one of the smallest container ports on the Northeastern seaboard, handling 265,000 containers in the fourth quarter of last year, according to container shipping expert Lars Jensen. The Port of New York and New Jersey handled around 2 million containers in that same period, and Norfolk Port in Virginia handled 850,000, so the flow of containers to Baltimore can likely be redistributed to bigger ports."

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2WbnI0_5P8

https://gcaptain.com/port-of-baltimore-key-facts-and-figures/

 

The other day, I was wondering about the containers trapped in Baltimore.
The containers still on shore, could be tractor-trailered to other ports.
Ships which were destined for Baltimore would have to divert, and thus bring their business to other ports.
Ships trapped in Baltimore will have to wait for the wreckage to be cleared and the investigation to release the site of the accident so that it can return to normal use.

I'm guessing they'll have to cut the bridge, in order to take away "bite sized pieces" that are easier to handle.

I wonder if this will prompt an improvement in the structures of all bridges, nationwide, so that the support structures will be able to withstand similar collisions?
 

[Snargfargle]

30 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

I wonder if this will prompt an improvement in the structures of all bridges, nationwide, so that the support structures will be able to withstand similar collisions?

Most new bridges are already built with runaway ships and barges in mind. There are news reports from all over the country answering this question for local viewers who are worried about their bridges. You can bet that when the Key bridge is rebuilt that it will have barriers.

 

 

[Snargfargle]

40 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

I'm guessing they'll have to cut the bridge, in order to take away "bite sized pieces" that are easier to handle.

The Navy crane that just showed up can lift a thousand tons.

[Wolfswetpaws]

9 hours ago, Snargfargle said:

The Navy crane that just showed up can lift a thousand tons.

Given the weight of the bridge (in total) a thousand tons is still "bite size" compared to the total task.  😉 

[Snargfargle]

Here is an example of a bridge that was built with runaway ships and barges in mind. This is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, FL.

Why is it so well protected? Well, here's why:

A barge ran into it in 1980, causing a collapse that killed 35 people. The Francis Scott Key bridge was completed in 1977, before this event occurred. Bridges built after 1980 are generally more protected.

Here, they are taking down the old bridge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge

[Snargfargle]

The old bridge didn't go completely to waste. It's now a state park.

[Snargfargle]

This is more interesting that you'd think a discussion of liability would be.

 

Edited April 1 by Snargfargle

[Wolfswetpaws]

Dali Timeline from Data Recorder in Striking Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, March 26, 2024