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

[epzik8]

It wasn't a defect, just a flaw in the design from day 1.

Imaginably, it wasn't regarded as such in 1977.

[rickmastfan67]

[bwana39]

honestly, the method of collapse is a well known thing at this point, truss was overloaded when a major pier was removed. It wasn't a defect, just a flaw in the design from day 1.

I said this above. If you take out a pier or a tower on any bridge , it is going to fall. Maybe not as quickly as a truss bridge, but if you lose a support like this unless you have duplicate supports (and virtually nothing does,) it is going to fall.

This collapse goes well beyond the definition of "fracture critical". Fracture critical USUALLY means the failure of a single SUBORDINATE part can cause a collapse. The loss of a pier (or a tower on a suspension or cable stayed bridge) will allow the bridge to collapse. It might even cause it to collapse when it is damaged or fails.

That's because you have the piers holding up several hundred feet of roadway. Unlike normal bridges where the spans are far less.  Here you had both sides of the bridge holding each other in place. Once the trickle effect hit the middle it than loosened the other side of the bridge throwing it off balance to then fall itself. Even when it got to the other pier, the other side of that became top heavy and fell backwards itself.

This design relied on all of its parts together holding the bridge up and steady on its two pylons.

True, if it were a different design only two of the truss sections would have fallen as opposed to all three.    

[jeffandnicole]

honestly, the method of collapse is a well known thing at this point, truss was overloaded when a major pier was removed. It wasn't a defect, just a flaw in the design from day 1.

I said this above. If you take out a pier or a tower on any bridge , it is going to fall. Maybe not as quickly as a truss bridge, but if you lose a support like this unless you have duplicate supports (and virtually nothing does,) it is going to fall.

This collapse goes well beyond the definition of "fracture critical". Fracture critical USUALLY means the failure of a single SUBORDINATE part can cause a collapse. The loss of a pier (or a tower on a suspension or cable stayed bridge) will allow the bridge to collapse. It might even cause it to collapse when it is damaged or fails.

That's because you have the piers holding up several hundred feet of roadway. Unlike normal bridges where the spans are far less.  Here you had both sides of the bridge holding each other in place. Once the trickle effect hit the middle it than loosened the other side of the bridge throwing it off balance to then fall itself. Even when it got to the other pier, the other side of that became top heavy and fell backwards itself.

This design relied on all of its parts together holding the bridge up and steady on its two pylons.

True, if it were a different design only two of the truss sections would have fallen as opposed to all three.   

And we'd still be in the same position we are now:  A missing bridge, expensive steel if it were to be rebuilt to original specs, different design standards then vs. now, etc. 

[jmacswimmer]

On Monday, the closure point on the Dundalk side is moving back from exit 43 to exit 42. I'm assuming it's due to an unrelated project that was set to begin when the collapse happened (MDTA had tweeted about it 2 days prior, shown below) - makes sense to just go ahead and do a full closure versus the long-term single-lane-per-direction that had been planned.

[Mr. Matté]

They're actually going to let go of a speed camera zone??

[MASTERNC]

They're actually going to let go of a speed camera zone??

They'll just deploy them to a second spot in the I-95 toll lane construction

[TheGrassGuy]

Google Maps just removed the Key Bridge from the maps lol

[bwana39]

I can still do the street view and it says "temporarily closed" on the main map.

[Rothman]

Google Maps just removed the Key Bridge from the maps lol

"Just"?  It was quite some time ago and was already reported on the forum.

[epzik8]

I can still do the street view and it says "temporarily closed" on the main map.

I hope the street view stays forever. It's all we have resembling a real trip along the bridge now.

[74/171FAN]

I can still do the street view and it says "temporarily closed" on the main map.

I hope the street view stays forever. It's all we have resembling a real trip along the bridge now.

Roadwaywiz, Mileage Mike, and Roadsounder99 amongst others have that taken care of for you. 

[The Ghostbuster]

Maybe when the Francis Scott Key Bridge is rebuilt, one could head over to Fort Carroll and watch the reconstruction. Of course, one would probably need binoculars or a telescope to get a good view of the construction.

[RobbieL2415]

On Monday, the closure point on the Dundalk side is moving back from exit 43 to exit 42. I'm assuming it's due to an unrelated project that was set to begin when the collapse happened (MDTA had tweeted about it 2 days prior, shown below) - makes sense to just go ahead and do a full closure versus the long-term single-lane-per-direction that had been planned.

And because it's MD, AES will be on regardless of whether or not workers are present.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Seeing reports that FBI has launched a criminal investigation.

[ixnay]

Seeing reports that FBI has launched a criminal investigation.

First learned that this morning through https://www.city-data.com/forum/politics-other-controversies/3465714-fbi-key-bridge-collapse-now-criminal.html ...

...but here I link a Baltimore media source (Charm City's NBC affiliate)...

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/criminal-investigation-key-bridge-collapse-started-fbi/60497901

[epzik8]

I can still do the street view and it says "temporarily closed" on the main map.

I hope the street view stays forever. It's all we have resembling a real trip along the bridge now.

Roadwaywiz, Mileage Mike, and Roadsounder99 amongst others have that taken care of for you. 

As it happens, I have video of my own last trip across the bridge from this past Christmas.