Francis Scott Key bridge collapse (Baltimore)

[Bazza]

Crews are preparing to remove what's left of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge truss from the Patapsco River with hopes of completing the work on Sunday. Crews have cut the truss into two pieces, which is considered a milestone in this ongoing operation, 11 News has learned. Some 500 tons of steel still needs to be removed, and another 500 tons remains buried at the bottom of the river. Video captured by SkyTeam 11 on Friday showed significant progress made at the site as complicated and dangerous work continues, using two large cranes to remove big chunks of debris from the main shipping channel.

 

[Bazza]

"Out of control" container ship prompts temporary closure of Ravenel Bridge; remains anchored outside Charleston Harbor ...

 

[Padreruf]

"Out of control" container ship prompts temporary closure of Ravenel Bridge; remains anchored outside Charleston Harbor ...

Yep -- shut down the bridge for a while. To drive from here to Mt. Pleasant -- normally 21 minutes, was over an hour.

 

[Bamaro]

Main shipping channel to Port of Baltimore fully restored 11 weeks after Key Bridge collapse

BALTIMORE - The main passageway for ships to the Port of Baltimore has been fully restored, the Unified Command announced on Monday.

After 11 weeks of painstaking work, Unified Command reopened the full-width Ft. McHenry Channel where the Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River.

"One of our four key directives in the wake of the Key Bridge collapse has been to fully clear the federal channel," Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said. "Today, we bring that directive to completion. By working together, we turned months into weeks – and bounced back faster than many could have ever anticipated."
"At this point, we are now at the final stages where we are surveying to make sure that there are no other high spots so that we can certify the channel to be 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep," Pinchasin said. "Those are the original dimensions of the Fort McHenry channel."

 

[Bazza]

GREAT NEWS! Congrats to the entire team who got this done!

The main shipping channel into Baltimore’s port has fully reopened to its original depth and width following the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which blocked most maritime traffic into the harbor.

 

[Bazza]

Newly released body-camera video shows the moment rescuers pulled a man to safety moments after he survived plunging nearly 200 feet to the water. ABC News’ Andrew Dymburt reports.

 

[Bamaro]

The Department of Justice has filed a civil claim against the owners of the cargo ship Dali, seeking more than $100 million in costs associated with recovery efforts.
The DOJ called the collapse “entirely avoidable” in its claim and called the vessel owner’s conduct “outrageous, grossly negligent, willful, wanton, and reckless.”

In lawsuit, DOJ seeks over $100 million from Dali owners (baltimoresun.com)

 

[Tidewater]

In lawsuit, DOJ seeks over $100 million from Dali owners (baltimoresun.com)

To the surprise of, well, no one.
In the US military, the safety policies allow almost anyone to call a time out if something unsafe is happening (on a rifle range, an airborne op, whatever). It really is true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Better to say, "Hang on, let's get this safety thing fixed rather than press on and hope nothing goes wrong."
The maritime insurance company (or the ship owners) has some 'splainin' to do.

 

[Go Bama]

In lawsuit, DOJ seeks over $100 million from Dali owners (baltimoresun.com)

My first impression was that the DOJ was not asking for enough, but the article states the State of Maryland owns the bridge and will be filing a separate lawsuit later. Somebody is in deep water.

 

[Bazza]

Jan. 8 article:

BALTIMORE -- The first steps in the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge are set to begin later this week, according to the MDTA. Pre-construction activities were originally set to begin Tuesday but were postponed due to snow in the area of the rebuild.

"Once the snow has melted, MDTA's progressive design-build team will begin pre-construction property inspections to approximately 1100 homes and businesses in the adjacent communities of the Key Bridge Rebuild project area," the MDTA said. "Property inspections are voluntary, will be provided at no cost to the homeowner, and are expected to be completed by the end of February 2025, weather permitting."

Initial pre-construction activities will include surveying, riverbed scanning, and soil sample collection. The entire project is expected to cost approximately $2 billion and take about four years to complete.

Construction on Baltimore's Key Bridge to begin this week. Here's what you can expect.

With the first steps in the reconstruction of the Key Bridge set to begin, we're taking a look at the progress that has been made since the collapse.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Bamaro]

The Dali container ship has returned to service nearly 10 months after colliding with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. Following temporary repairs in Norfolk and extensive work in China, the vessel has completed sea trials, validation and recertification.

 

[Bamaro]

New design released, to be completed in 2028

 

[crimsonaudio]

That's a beautiful design.

 

[Bamaro]

NOVA : Baltimore Bridge Collapse | Cascade PBS

 

[CrimsonNagus]

Here is a YouTube link for the same NOVA episode. The PBS link, for me at least, was buffering every few seconds or dropped the quality to a pixelated mess. Could just be my work internet as well but the YT link works.

Baltimore Bridge Collapse | Full Documentary | NOVA | PBS

 

[Bamaro]

NTSB Recommends 68 Bridges in US be Evaluated for Risk of Collapse from Vessel Strike

WASHINGTON (March 20, 2025) — The National Transportation Safety Board recommended Thursday that 30 owners of 68 bridges across 19 states conduct a vulnerability assessment to determine the risk of bridge collapse from a vessel collision, part of the ongoing investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The NTSB found that the Key Bridge, which collapsed after being struck by the containership Dali on March 26, 2024, was almost 30 times above the acceptable risk threshold for critical or essential bridges, according to guidance established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or AASHTO.

Over the last year, the NTSB identified 68 bridges that were designed before the AASHTO guidance was established — like the Key Bridge — that do not have a current vulnerability assessment. The recommendations are issued to bridge owners to calculate the annual frequency of collapse for their bridges using AASHTO’s Method II calculation.

• California: Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
• California: Carquinez Bridge
• California: Benicia-Martinez Bridge
• California: Antioch Bridge
• California: San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
• California: Coronado Bridge
• California: Golden Gate Bridge
• Delaware: Summit Bridge
• Delaware: Saint Georges Bridge
• Delaware: Reedy Point Bridge
• Florida: Sunshine Skyway Bridge
• Florida: Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge (Dames Point Bridge)
• Georgia: Talmadge Bridge
• Illinois: Chicago Skyway Calumet River Bridge
• Louisiana: Huey P. Long Bridge
• Louisiana: Greater New Orleans Bridge
• Louisiana: Israel LaFleur Bridge
• Louisiana: Crescent City Connection Bridge
• Louisiana: Hale Boggs (Luling) Bridge
• Louisiana: Horace Wilkinson Bridge
• Louisiana: Gramercy (Veterans Memorial) Bridge
• Louisiana: Sunshine Bridge
• Maryland: William Preston Lane Jr. (Bay) Bridge (eastbound)
• Maryland: William Preston Lane Jr. (Bay) Bridge (westbound)
• Maryland: Chesapeake City Bridge
• Massachusetts: Tobin Bridge (southbound upper)
• Massachusetts: Tobin Bridge (northbound lower)
• Massachusetts: Bourne Bridge
• Massachusetts: Sagamore Bridge
• Michigan: Mackinac Bridge Mackinac Bridge
• New Hampshire: Memorial Bridge
• New Jersey: Commodore Barry Bridge
• New Jersey: Vincent R. Casciano (Newark Bay) Bridge
• New York: Verrazano Narrows Bridge (eastbound)
• New York: Verrazano Narrows Bridge (westbound)
• New York: Brooklyn Bridge
• New York: Manhattan Bridge
• New York: Williamsburg Bridge
• New York: Newburgh-Beacon Bridge (eastbound)
• New York: Newburgh-Beacon Bridge (westbound)
• New York: Rip Van Winkle Bridge
• New York: Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge
• New York: George Washington Bridge
• New York: Outerbridge Crossing Bridge
• New York: Seaway International Bridge
• New York: Thousand Islands Bridge
• Ohio: CUY-00490-0010 (I-490) Bridge
• Ohio: CUY-00002-1441 (Main Avenue) Bridge
• Ohio: CUY-00006-1456 (Detroit Avenue) Bridge
• Ohio: CUY-00010-1613 (Carnegie Avenue) Bridge
• Ohio: LUC-01W02-0002 (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial) Bridge
• Ohio: LUC-00002-1862 (Anthony Wayne) Bridge
• Oregon: Astoria-Megler Bridge
• Oregon: St. Johns Bridge
• Pennsylvania: Walt Whitman Bridge
• Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin Bridge
• Pennsylvania: Betsy Ross Bridge
• Pennsylvania: Delaware River Turnpike Bridge
• Rhode Island: Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge
• Texas: Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge
• Texas: Sidney Sherman Bridge
• Texas: Rainbow Bridge
• Texas: Veterans Memorial Bridge
• Texas: Hartman Bridge (eastbound)
• Texas: Hartman Bridge (westbound)
• Texas: GulfGate Bridge
• Washington: Lewis and Clark Bridge
• Wisconsin: Leo Frigo Bridge

This will be VERY expensive

 

[4Q Basket Case]

I'm no architect or engineer, so this is a genuine question: Can they build reinforced ring-like structures around the main bridge supports to protect against collision? The protective structure would surround the support, but not touch it. In addition to being reinforced concrete, the ring (20 feet? 30? 50?) would be filled with a material designed to further absorb the impact.

The idea being that if a ship does get loose, it damages the ring and compresses the impact-absorbing material, but doesn't get to the main bridge support.

It wouldn't be cheap, but it strikes me as far less expensive than re-engineering the bridges themselves.

Note: I see from pictures that they already have a version of what I'm talking about. I'm thinking of making them bigger and stronger.

 

[crimsonaudio]

This will be VERY expensive

Like balancing the budget, infrastructure spending isn't 'sexy' so politicians like to kick the can down the road so they can spend money on things that get them reelected.

Based purely on articles I've read, it appears that generally speaking we've really neglected some of our critical infrastructure for decades.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Like balancing the budget, infrastructure spending isn't 'sexy' so politicians like to kick the can down the road so they can spend money on things that get them reelected.

Based purely on articles I've read, it appears that generally speaking we've really neglected some of our critical infrastructure for decades.

In Birmingham there are two viaducts spanning a lot of railroad tracks -- the 21st and 22nd street viaducts. They were built in the early 20th century and are major arteries into and out of downtown.

They were so neglected for so long that the city literally wrapped a decorative balustrade with duct tape to keep crumbling concrete from falling into the street or down onto the tracks.

When the duct tape weathered to the point that it was no longer effective, it was no problem. They just added another layer of duct tape.

You can't make that stuff up.

One is still operational, but the other is now closed to all traffic.

 

[crimsonaudio]

One year ago, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore after a cargo ship hit it. We still haven’t started rebuilding a new bridge. In fact, they haven’t even demolished the old remains yet. China would have built 10 bridges by now.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1904884596132507708