Baltimore Bay bridge collapses
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Why do you say that?
I will admit when I saw the news originally I thought to myself that my next couple of DC trips will definitely be flights.
@jon-nyc said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
Why do you say that?
I will admit when I saw the news originally I thought to myself that my next couple of DC trips will definitely be flights.
3600 trucks crossed the bridge daily. Many of those trucks are Hazmat. They now have to take a massive detour because they can't use the tunnels.
As for everyone else, in addition to losing the bridge to get to Dundalk and Essex, those trucks now have 30 or so miles of mixing in with the other traffic.
This is going to fuck the port, the state, the city and I-95 for a long while.
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A widely circulated video of the Key Bridge failure drew attention to the disastrous collapse of the upper bridge structure. But engineers who reviewed the footage said that did not appear to be the culprit in the disaster. Instead, they said, the superstructure failure was most likely a secondary effect of the pier crumbling beneath it after the collision.
Engineers who reviewed images of the bridge both before and after the collapse said no significant fender structures were visible. Only fairly small structures were visible in photos taken at the foot of the pier, and they did not appear to be substantial enough to be able to stop a large ship, some of them said. They said the structures may have served another purpose entirely — like preventing water from scouring and undermining the pier’s foundation.
Benjamin W. Schafer, a professor of engineering at Johns Hopkins University, said, after looking at images of the bridge taken before the disaster, “If you zoom further out, you can see these large cylinders that sort of define the shipping channel. They are to direct the ships and they are part of the bridge structure. Some would say those are protective structures. But I haven’t seen any evidence of fenders myself.”
In some bridges, engineers may elect, instead of fendering, “the alternative of making the pier exceptionally strong,” said Shankar Nair, a structural engineer with over half a century of experience who is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. But the visual evidence so far, he and others said, suggested that the pier was simply not strong enough to survive the collision.
The structure’s apparent vulnerability left some engineers dumbfounded.
“This is a huge shock,” Dr. Nair said. “A bridge of that size and importance should not collapse when hit by an errant vessel.”
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Some images from some area photographers.
@Aqua-Letifer said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
From my visit to Baltimore, I recall the "Domino Sugars" sign but not the bridge. It's not until I see the "Domino" sign that it occurs to me, "wait, I have been there."
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
From my visit to Baltimore, I recall the "Domino Sugars" sign but not the bridge. It's not until I see the "Domino" sign that it occurs to me, "wait, I have been there."
@Axtremus said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
From my visit to Baltimore, I recall the "Domino Sugars" sign but not the bridge. It's not until I see the "Domino" sign that it occurs to me, "wait, I have been there."
Yeah, and the best time to see it is at the same time of day this photo was taken.
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This will also push more travelers onto the Acela and NE Express, possibly to capacity, which will create new challenges. The months that the port is down will add major stressors to a supply chain that is still recovering from 20-21. And that port was the last floater keeping that city from being completely flushed.
The Brad
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This will also push more travelers onto the Acela and NE Express, possibly to capacity, which will create new challenges. The months that the port is down will add major stressors to a supply chain that is still recovering from 20-21. And that port was the last floater keeping that city from being completely flushed.
@LuFins-Dad said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
This will also push more travelers onto the Acela and NE Express, possibly to capacity, which will create new challenges. The months that the port is down will add major stressors to a supply chain that is still recovering from 20-21. And that port was the last floater keeping that city from being completely flushed.
Is it a city that should be flushed?
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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Yeah the traffic this summer will be extra sux0rs. Tunnel traffic jams, tons of traffic taking 95 or 695 alternate routes adding time and distance.
Other things I’ve thought of. Cruise ships, any stuck, but otherwise lots will have to change their port. Same with normal cargo ships, any stuck?
Then I think of the businesses along the highway route that’ll now have nearly zero customers. Sucks.
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@LuFins-Dad said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
This will also push more travelers onto the Acela and NE Express, possibly to capacity, which will create new challenges. The months that the port is down will add major stressors to a supply chain that is still recovering from 20-21. And that port was the last floater keeping that city from being completely flushed.
Is it a city that should be flushed?
@Jolly said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
@LuFins-Dad said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
This will also push more travelers onto the Acela and NE Express, possibly to capacity, which will create new challenges. The months that the port is down will add major stressors to a supply chain that is still recovering from 20-21. And that port was the last floater keeping that city from being completely flushed.
Is it a city that should be flushed?
Not really. But I am biased. I have grandparents and cousins who live there and have been involved in everything from the Inner Habor revitalization in the 90s to opening up small coffee shops and renovating houses for the poor. The city has a rich history and unique culture. Of course there are wide swaths of the city that are ghetto as shit and could use a complete reset.
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Time to re-build?
Ten years:
A complete rebuild could take a decade or more, Schafer said. He noted that building the original bridge took five years and rebuilding the Skyway Bridge in Tampa after it was hit by a freighter in 1980 took seven.
“To actually recreate that whole transportation network," he said. "Projects that large take “rarely less than 10 years."
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Seems to me, the biggest need is to get the shipping lanes open. The rest is congestion and inconvenience, compared with the economic impact of the port being closed.
I understand the Corps of Engineers has been tasked with opening the shipping channel back up.
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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Seems to me, the biggest need is to get the shipping lanes open. The rest is congestion and inconvenience, compared with the economic impact of the port being closed.
I understand the Corps of Engineers has been tasked with opening the shipping channel back up.
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Seems to me, the biggest need is to get the shipping lanes open. The rest is congestion and inconvenience, compared with the economic impact of the port being closed.
I understand the Corps of Engineers has been tasked with opening the shipping channel back up.
@Jolly said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
Seems to me, the biggest need is to get the shipping lanes open. The rest is congestion and inconvenience, compared with the economic impact of the port being closed.
I understand the Corps of Engineers has been tasked with opening the shipping channel back up.
Agreed about the priority.
BTW the empire state building took 13 months.
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@Jolly said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
Seems to me, the biggest need is to get the shipping lanes open. The rest is congestion and inconvenience, compared with the economic impact of the port being closed.
I understand the Corps of Engineers has been tasked with opening the shipping channel back up.
Agreed about the priority.
BTW the empire state building took 13 months.
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If building the original took 5 years in the 70’s, why would it take 7-10 now? Oh, that’s right, unions…
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If building the original took 5 years in the 70’s, why would it take 7-10 now? Oh, that’s right, unions…
@LuFins-Dad said in Baltimore Bay bridge collapses:
If building the original took 5 years in the 70’s, why would it take 7-10 now? Oh, that’s right, unions…
If the union safety regulations save even a single life, the extra time is worth it.
Education is extremely important.
