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

[Max Rockatansky]

Dan's second round of drone photos of the Key Bridge site posted on the Gribblenation Facebook page:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02wVeTpMiAexACDp2iwBvvgDL2LKRptRg4eokFX9nucpn5snj3oHgxH5TsHWCWsA6Cl&id=100063655972258&mibextid=wwXIfr

The caption reads:

"More scenes from the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, MD from this past weekend as the first operations are now underway on site on the path to building a new Outer Harbor Crossing for the Baltimore Beltway (I-695).

Removal of the existing bridge superstructure is in progress, with the old concrete deck removed from the surviving spans and steel girders now being removed from the Hawkins Point approach. Demolition of the existing bridge is the first step in the process of opening up the site to the greater influx of equipment and material still to come, as well as helping streamline navigation in the harbor in the area of the bridge site for construction, commercial, and pleasure traffic.

Completion of the new bridge is expected at the end of 2028, an aggressive timeline without question, especially when this large-scale project was dropped on everyone's plate without notice or expectation. That's one of the things the Facebook trolls who complain about things taking so long to get going don't realize. Projects like this take years to plan and years to line up, between contractors, engineers, and material suppliers due to the complexities involved both on and off-site. For this project to be underway with significant work in progress already on this date is a remarkable achievement given all of those factors and all of the obstacles that typically stand in the way of fast-tracking such large projects. And it certainly got started a lot faster than it would have if a tunnel had been the preferred solution from Day 1."

And FWIW that comment about Facebook trolls is spot on.  There has been some absolutely vile but not unexpected takes I've had to delete out on both posts.  The mainstream platform social media stuff that goes on off forum makes this place seem so vanilla by comparison.