Francis Scott Key Bridge (I-695) complete collapse after large ship hits it

[rickmastfan67]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/us/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-tuesday/index.html
https://wtop.com/baltimore/2024/03/key-bridge-in-baltimore-collapses-after-hitting-large-boat/
https://twitter.com/rawsalerts/status/1772514786338619487

The boat that hit it is The Dali & is out of Singapore.

Sadly, we have another Skyway Bridge upon us, and this looks way worse.

[longhorn]

Could have been worse, being hit at 1:30 AM saved countless lives.

[ElishaGOtis]

HOLY MOLY

   

[Hunty2022]

Traffic around the west side seems to be good according to the Google Maps traffic layer. It also seems like the southeast portion of I-695 is closed until December.

My prayers go out to those involved in this.

[Mapmikey]

Could have been worse, being hit at 1:30 AM saved countless lives.

Ship also sent a mayday, allowing police to shut the bridge before the impact, saving a few more cars from being up there

[roadman65]

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-bridge-collapse-key-bridge-video/60304085

Unbelievable.

[The Ghostbuster]

The bridge collapse is featured on Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2176593,-76.5275612,652m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu.

[jmacswimmer]

The video of the collapse is horrifying...you can see the vessel's lights going on & off and smoke billowing as it approaches (in line with Gov. Moore's statement that they declared a mayday due to power loss), then drifts off course directly towards the support column, and then the entire structure was down in seconds upon impact (and you can even see the power cut out on the bridge itself as it starts to collapse).

Most recent updates I've seen indicate that 5 vehicles have been identified on the river bottom via sonar (but not reached yet by the divers), and an 8-person construction crew was on the bridge at collapse with 2 rescued earlier and the remaining 6 unaccounted for. The other major impact is that the Port of Baltimore is now cut off entirely.

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/baltimore-bridge-collapse-03-26-24-intl-hnk/index.html

And we just hit the 1st anniversary of the work-zone crash on I-695 a few days ago...March is not a good month for Maryland transportation.

VMS on I-795 on my commute in this morning:

[oscar]

Sadly, we have another Skyway Bridge upon us, and this looks way worse.

IIRC, the Skyway Bridge replacement was designed to make the cause of its collapse (as apparently the case here, an out-of-control ship colliding with a bridge support) less likely, including in particular larger islands around the supports. Were similar changes made to the Key Bridge? Would they have been possible, while keeping the navigation channel under the main span wide enough for large container ships?

[wanderer2575]

There are at least two cruise ships at sea that originated out of the Baltimore Cruise Port.  Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas is currently on a 12-night itinerary that is due back the morning of April 4th.  RC's blog says "our Port Logistics team is currently working on alternatives for our ongoing and upcoming sailings.  We will message our guests and travel partners directly once our plans are finalized."  Carnival also has ongoing sailings from that Port.

[roadman65]

I saw a bright light on the Dundalk approach to the main span as that part went down plus an explosion over where the Dundalk main pier used to stand.

Part of the structure remains on the bow of the ship

[Joe The Dragon]

openstreetmap.org has it removed now

[rickmastfan67]

openstreetmap.org has it removed now

https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/39.2152/-76.5324

[seicer]

I was surprised that there was no better pier protection around the piers.

I am glad that I stopped for photos two years ago.

[Voyager]

Sadly, we have another Skyway Bridge upon us, and this looks way worse.

IIRC, the Skyway Bridge replacement was designed to make the cause of its collapse (as apparently the case here, an out-of-control ship colliding with a bridge support) less likely, including in particular larger islands around the supports. Were similar changes made to the Key Bridge? Would they have been possible, while keeping the navigation channel under the main span wide enough for large container ships?

No, there were no dolphins (well technically there are 2 next to each foundation, but very far away, which in the case of what happened with this ship didn't help as it swung around) or fenders around the piers, which is very interesting because of how exposed those supports were.

[Joe The Dragon]

Now if the federal government picks up the full rebuild costs will the tolls be removed?

Will the federal government stop some 3rd party from funding an rebuild with an big toll hike?

[jeffandnicole]

Now if the federal government picks up the full rebuild costs will the tolls be removed?

Will the federal government stop some 3rd party from funding an rebuild with an big toll hike?

They rarely will pay 100% of a rebuild.

And toll revenue is still used for maintenance on other parts of the jurisdiction the entity us responsible for; not just the bridge itself.

[kalvado]

Now if the federal government picks up the full rebuild costs will the tolls be removed?

Will the federal government stop some 3rd party from funding an rebuild with an big toll hike?

Ship insurance would be another factor. And lawyers making a lot of billable hours on the subject...

[D-Dey65]

Could have been worse, being hit at 1:30 AM saved countless lives.

If you've seen the way that thing collapsed, it would be hard to disagree with you.

[jeffandnicole]

Now if the federal government picks up the full rebuild costs will the tolls be removed?

Will the federal government stop some 3rd party from funding an rebuild with an big toll hike?

They rarely will pay 100% of a rebuild.

And toll revenue is still used for maintenance on other parts of the jurisdiction the entity us responsible for; not just the bridge itself.

I see Biden did say the Feds will pay for the rebuild though. That'll be nice of them to do so.

[D-Dey65]

Now if the federal government picks up the full rebuild costs will the tolls be removed?

Will the federal government stop some 3rd party from funding an rebuild with an big toll hike?

They rarely will pay 100% of a rebuild.

And toll revenue is still used for maintenance on other parts of the jurisdiction the entity us responsible for; not just the bridge itself.

Even though it's not even a drop in the bucket for the collapse, I now want to personally take the $6 they were supposed to have charged me for crossing directly to the Maryland Transportation Authority.

[Voyager]

Curious if they'll try and reuse the old bridge approaches (doubtful) or just create a new Cable Stayed Bridge like the Sunshine Skyway disaster ended up doing.

[nexus73]

On the Oregon coast, the McCullough Bridge (101 just north of North Bend) was hit by a ship in the 80's.  The bridge did not collapse so we got lucky but the bridge was closed for several weeks so inspections and repairs could take place.  A local bumpersticker was made which said "The Ship Hit The Span!".  The real headache was that the detour was for the most part a narrow curvy two lane road with a 35 MPH limit that came into the south end of the urban area here. 

[Voyager]

On the Oregon coast, the McCullough Bridge (101 just north of North Bend) was hit by a ship in the 80's.  The bridge did not collapse so we got lucky but the bridge was closed for several weeks so inspections and repairs could take place.  A local bumpersticker was made which said "The Ship Hit The Span!".  The real headache was that the detour was for the most part a narrow curvy two lane road with a 35 MPH limit that came into the south end of the urban area here. 

The San Francisco Bay Bridge was also hit by one in 2007 but it just hit the pier support and didn't damage anything, and spilled a ton of junk into the bay. I'm curious why the Bay Bridge tower wasn't damaged at all when it doesn't have a fender either.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Container-ship-hits-Bay-Bridge-tower-fuel-3236913.php

[jmacswimmer]

Now if the federal government picks up the full rebuild costs will the tolls be removed?

Will the federal government stop some 3rd party from funding an rebuild with an big toll hike?

They rarely will pay 100% of a rebuild.

And toll revenue is still used for maintenance on other parts of the jurisdiction the entity us responsible for; not just the bridge itself.

FWIW: In this case, MDTA's jurisdiction extends from within I-695 exit 2 to just north of I-695 exit 42 (I think it's the pavement transition but can't immediately find the little white maintenance signs like exist at the exit 2 MDTA/SHA switchover). Updated to add: Found it, it's actually partway between exits 42 & 43. This includes the Curtis Creek Drawbridge, the eastbound span of which is currently also closed by default due to the outer loop closure beginning at exit 2, as well as the Bear Creek Bridge which is also fully closed by default.