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

[Max Rockatansky]

- 6-7

I'm much closer to the target age and I still don't understand most brainrot. I think most of it is nonsense for the sake of being nonsensical.

Just so happens though I appear to be the only one out there that had a sign photo to match the meme.

https://flic.kr/p/2qZUVw7

Oddly I took this photo earlier this year before said meme began.  Got the County Route J6 blog I did way more attention than it deserved since this was the cover photo.

[Rothman]

- 6-7

I'm much closer to the target age and I still don't understand most brainrot. I think most of it is nonsense for the sake of being nonsensical.

Every generation has its nonsense.

[jmacswimmer]

- 6-7

I'm much closer to the target age and I still don't understand most brainrot. I think most of it is nonsense for the sake of being nonsensical.

Every generation has its nonsense.

I only became aware of, and now halfway understand 6-7 because of South Park.

[Max Rockatansky]

- 6-7

I'm much closer to the target age and I still don't understand most brainrot. I think most of it is nonsense for the sake of being nonsensical.

Every generation has its nonsense.

Yeah but Boomer and Gen-Z nonsense seem to be oddly similar.  To me tommyrot and brainrot don't seem all that different.

[vdeane]

I had to look up what "unch" means.  Urban Dictionary says it's a particular piece of skin on the male body.  I did not need to know that.

First place I looked also.  I figured that wasn't what Beltway meant but I thought the Urban Dictionary definition was funny and kept it to myself.

I mean, they do have what he meant a couple definitions down under "unched"... but where's the fun in that?

I stand by my statement that Beltway doesn't understand how federal financing or FHWA funding authorization, especially in terms of which phases are authorized and FHWA's position once they are.  This project will never just be abandoned for cost reasons for the reasons I mentioned already and which he evidently still did not understand given his response above.

Considering that he wrote a letter to DOGE at one point, I don't think he cares.

[Beltway]

I stand by my statement that Beltway doesn't understand how federal financing or FHWA funding authorization, especially in terms of which phases are authorized and FHWA's position once they are.  This project will never just be abandoned for cost reasons for the reasons I mentioned already and which he evidently still did not understand given his response above.

As I have said number of times this project is operating completely outside of normal FHWA federal aid allocations to states. Basically unique to any previous projects. So comparing it to regular FHWA programs is irrelevant.

He also misunderstands who designs projects and the standards against which engineers must design such.  The idea that non-engineers are driving the actual design is ludicrous to me.  So, despite Beltway's long misinterpretation of what I meant by "time will tell," my real intent was to say, "We shall see if Beltway's fears are warranted against the whole host of real experts working on the project and the tested standards that such must adhere to."  Just seems that Beltway doesn't understand that his criticisms aren't limited to the particular project or team or individuals or a certain policy or specification, but for what he fears to come to fruition, he's really criticizing the entire system from his armchair. 
So, sure, I'll place my bet on the engineers working on the bridge and the standards which have been developed over decades of experience and testing rather than on someone sitting on the outside.  That's what U mean when "time will tell" -- time will tell if Beltway's tilting at the windmills of the entire system are warranted -- and I very much doubt it will.

What "entire system"? And we're not talking about technical engineering details, we are talking about one specific major item -- do we build main bridge piers in deep waters adjacent to a major shipping channel? As in reachable by Panamax-sized ships?

Is it possible to protect them or not? How does this collapse affect those decisions?

Rothman is figuratively sitting in the chair of someone working in senior management at an agency (like what VDOT employees call the Third Floor). Not an engineering perspective. He may be a manager himself.

As I have detailed many times this issue is operating outside of NEPA and that process is run by environmental specialists, not by engineers.

MDTA made this decision in the first week or two and it probably came from above their senior management -- probably from the governor's office.

NEPA is not an engineering protocol -- it's a public stewardship framework. It is run by environmental specialists tasked with evaluating alternatives, impacts, and public input before any design envelope is imposed. Engineers may execute within that envelope, but they do not define it. To conflate engineering execution with NEPA stewardship is to misrepresent both domains.

[[[.. tiresome comments ...]]]

I never claimed that non-engineers are driving the technical design. My concern is with how agency managers and elected officials shape the design envelope -- through policy constraints, clearance assumptions, and rollout priorities. Engineers execute within those bounds. To suggest I misunderstand "who designs projects" is to conflate execution with imposition. That distinction is central to NEPA and the EIS process, which explicitly invites public scrutiny of alternatives, impacts, and assumptions.

Your framing of "time will tell" now reads as a wager on institutional infallibility. But my critique isn't a rejection of engineering expertise -- it's a call for transparency in how that expertise is bounded. When a legacy corridor like the Key Bridge is redesigned, the public has a right to question not just the specs, but the upstream decisions that shape them. That's not tilting at windmills. That's stewardship.

To say I'm "criticizing the entire system from my armchair" is rhetorical shielding. I'm documenting how institutional drift, clearance logic, and phased rollout affect real infrastructure outcomes. If the system is sound, it should welcome principled critique -- not deflect it by invoking credentials or betting against public insight.

I place my trust in engineers too -- but I also trust the public's right to interrogate the constraints they're handed. That's not contrary to NEPA. That's its core. NEPA was built to ensure that environmental and infrastructure decisions are not made in a vacuum, but with public input, legacy awareness, and transparent alternatives.

If "time will tell," then let's ensure the record reflects more than credential defense. Let it reflect principled questions about symbolic geography, corridor logic, and institutional accountability. That's not rejection -- it's stewardship. And if the system is as resilient as you believe, it should be able to absorb scrutiny without rhetorical recoil.

[Beltway]

I see that the chunderpump has started up again.

Time for some website article updates.

[Max Rockatansky]

Do I dare look up "chunderpump" in Urban Dictionary?

[epzik8]

I had to look up what "unch" means.  Urban Dictionary says it's a particular piece of skin on the male body.  I did not need to know that.

I think this is the first time I've seen UD cited on here.

[hbelkins]

When I saw "UNCH" I first thought he'd left out a letter and a hyphen and meant "UNC-CH," which stands for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and thought he was comparing someone to John Lansford.

[Beltway]

When I saw "UNCH" I first thought he'd left out a letter and a hyphen and meant "UNC-CH," which stands for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and thought he was comparing someone to John Lansford.

I explained it the first time it was questioned -- came from when I read the stock market pages back when they were in printed newspapers.

The stock price change for the day and the Dow Jones change for the day was shown as a plus or minus and if no change -- UNCH -- for UNCHANGED.

That was my one word reply to MDTA's supposed latest design rendering -- it looks virtually UNCHANGED from what they released about Feb. 2025.

[Max Rockatansky]

Maybe the takeaway is to cool it on using outdated slang from times of the long past?  I invest heavily in stocks and even I didn't pick up on what UNCH meant.

[kphoger]

Do I dare look up "chunderpump" in Urban Dictionary?

I think it's a style of women's shoe.

Maybe the takeaway is to cool it on using outdated slang from times of the long past?

That would be jake!  What a darb of an idea!

[Beltway]

Maybe the takeaway is for the chunderpumpers to cool it and stop filling up the thread with nonsense. and vomic.

I made those words up in case you are wondering.

[kphoger]

I made those words up in case you are wondering.

In that case, then...

... stop filling up the thread with nonsense.

[Beltway]

I made those words up in case you are wondering.

In that case, then...

... stop filling up the thread with nonsense.

See what I mean? A post that adds nothing but an increment of 1 to the number 32,924

[kphoger]

See what I mean?

I must have really hacked you, huh?  Don't flip your wig, Mrs Grundy!  Don't be such a bluenose!

[Max Rockatansky]

Those "6-7" days of quiet in this thread seem like such quaint a thing of the past now. 

[freebrickproductions]

- 6-7

I'm much closer to the target age and I still don't understand most brainrot. I think most of it is nonsense for the sake of being nonsensical.

I mean, our generation thought this was the funniest shit ever back in 2018, so IDK if we have much room to judge.

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

Care to explain the meme I'm looking at?  I'm more from the Zelda CDI and Over 9,000 meme era.

[LilianaUwU]

^^^

Care to explain the meme I'm looking at?  I'm more from the Zelda CDI and Over 9,000 meme era.

It's an edit of the YouTuber Markiplier to look like Lord Farquaad from Shrek, with the letter E (it was matched with the E in "EA Sports, it's in the game").

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

Care to explain the meme I'm looking at?  I'm more from the Zelda CDI and Over 9,000 meme era.

It's an edit of the YouTuber Markiplier to look like Lord Farquaad from Shrek, with the letter E (it was matched with the E in "EA Sports, it's in the game").

I see, yes that would be a little bit beyond my time in terms of getting the joke.  The last new game I bought was Metal Gear Solid 4. 

[Rothman]

I stand by my statement that Beltway doesn't understand how federal financing or FHWA funding authorization, especially in terms of which phases are authorized and FHWA's position once they are.  This project will never just be abandoned for cost reasons for the reasons I mentioned already and which he evidently still did not understand given his response above.

As I have said number of times this project is operating completely outside of normal FHWA federal aid allocations to states. Basically unique to any previous projects. So comparing it to regular FHWA programs is irrelevant.

For someone that criticized nonsense in this thread, they certainly contributed this whopper, which again shows a misunderstanding of how FHWA funds are authorized.

And this also counts as nonsense:

As I have detailed many times this issue is operating outside of NEPA and that process is run by environmental specialists, not by engineers.

No, a categorical exclusion doesn't mean the project is operating "outside of NEPA."

Anyway...

All his base are belong to us.

[Rothman]

^^^

Care to explain the meme I'm looking at?  I'm more from the Zelda CDI and Over 9,000 meme era.

It's an edit of the YouTuber Markiplier to look like Lord Farquaad from Shrek, with the letter E (it was matched with the E in "EA Sports, it's in the game").

I watched a lot of Markiplier with my kids.  After a long hiatus, they're back to watching him.  Not sure what drove his revival, except that I guess he produced or directed some movie about that submarine-in-ocean-of-blood game...Iron-whatever...

[Max Rockatansky]

I stand by my statement that Beltway doesn't understand how federal financing or FHWA funding authorization, especially in terms of which phases are authorized and FHWA's position once they are.  This project will never just be abandoned for cost reasons for the reasons I mentioned already and which he evidently still did not understand given his response above.

As I have said number of times this project is operating completely outside of normal FHWA federal aid allocations to states. Basically unique to any previous projects. So comparing it to regular FHWA programs is irrelevant.

For someone that criticized nonsense in this thread, they certainly contributed this whopper, which again shows a misunderstanding of how FHWA funds are authorized.

And this also counts as nonsense:

As I have detailed many times this issue is operating outside of NEPA and that process is run by environmental specialists, not by engineers.

No, a categorical exclusion doesn't meant he project is operating "outside of NEPA."

Anyway...

All his base are belong to us.

Make your time