The collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday raises serious questions about what safety and protection mechanisms could have prevented this disaster and the loss of six lives.
It’s still unclear what caused the massive 985-foot cargo ship to lose control and hit a pier, also known as a pylon, a critical part of the structure that keeps the bridge deck in place.
But could the bridge have been better protected to prevent large ships from hitting critical parts of the infrastructure?
Baltimore bridge collapse: Harrowing audio released reveals details of six presumed dead
The cargo ship Dali sits underwater after colliding with the Francis Scott Key Bridge and collapsing. Questions have been raised about how well the bridge was protected. (Tassos Katopodis/Getty Images)
From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses due to ship or barge collisions around the world, resulting in a total of 342 deaths, according to a 2018 report by the World Water Transport Infrastructure Association.
Eighteen of the collapses occurred in the United States, including a 609-foot cargo ship that crashed into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida’s Tampa Bay area in 1980.
The cargo ship Summit Venture was navigating a narrow, winding channel when a blinding squall suddenly wiped out the ship’s radar. The ship severed one of the bridge’s supports, sending a 1,400-foot section of concrete roadway into the water during the morning rush hour.
Seven vehicles, including a bus with 26 people on board, fell 40 feet deep. At least 35 people died.
After the tragedy, a replacement bridge was built and its piers were protected by several circular sheet pile cells known as dolphins. Protection infrastructure is also known as a fender system. The perimeter of the larger pier was also buffered with concrete and rock for added protection, and the channel through which ships could pass was expanded.
On April 29, 1987, the day before the new bridge was scheduled to open, a 74-foot shrimp boat crashed head-on into the new bridge’s protective bumper. The bumper sustained minor damage, but the bridge was unaffected and opened to traffic at a later date. The shrimp boat took on water and was towed out of the channel into shallow water, where it sank.
Tampa’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge has some fencing installed for protection. (Thomas Bender/Herald Tribune/USA Today Network)
Live updates: Baltimore bridge collapse
Photos and videos from the scene show that the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was built in 1977, does not appear to have any protective fencing, and the pier that was struck was surrounded by structures such as fences and buffers. There wasn’t. There are several small circular structures in the water, but it is unclear if they are barriers that serve another purpose. A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on whether a bumper system or protective fencing was installed on the Baltimore bridge.
Dr. Ron Harichandran, dean of the Tagliatella Institute of Technology in Connecticut, told Fox News Digital that even with the fence, it may not have been enough to stop Dali, given its size and weight. He said he could not.of Singapore flag container Deadweight tonnage, or gross tonnage, is approximately 117,000 tons.
“Most of the protection systems installed directly around the pier probably would not have been able to prevent this particular accident due to the size and weight of the cargo ship,” Harichandran said. “It was just too big.”
“The only thing that might have worked is if we had something like an island around the pier, but that doesn’t happen often,” Harichandran added. “Basically, you have to reclaim part of the river and build an island so that ships hit the island instead of the pier, which you should do if you want that level of protection. Of course, it costs a lot of money.”
“It really should have been done when the bridge was built, instead of renovating it,” he added.
Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, May 7, 2017. The bridge’s supports were hit by a container ship, causing a catastrophic collapse. (Rick Brady)
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference Tuesday that the protective structure will be part of the investigation into the Maryland bridge collapse.
“There are some questions about the structure of the bridge, the protective structure around the bridge and around the piers to prevent it from collapsing,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We know what a structure should look like. Part of our investigation is how this bridge was built. It’s about looking at the structure itself. Do we need any safety improvements? All of that will be part of our investigation.’
At the time of this report, it is estimated that at least six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse were killed.
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Harichandran said other more cost-effective systems could be used to alert bridge users.
“We could also install trip wires or more sophisticated warning sensors that would warn us of approaching the bridge much earlier,” Harichandran said.
“These kinds of remote sensing techniques could have given us an earlier warning of a disaster that could have evacuated people. We could have been warned thanks to the radio calls. I know it helped with traffic stops and things like that.”But if they had alerted us earlier, they could have alerted the authorities sooner,” Harichandran added. “Think of a trip wire placed a mile in front of a bridge. If the ship doesn’t go as planned, the trip wire will trip, alerting people that something is wrong, and allowing the bridge to close. Masu.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
