Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore collapses after boat accident

[mmc]

 

[arch stanton]

Somebody's getting piss tested

[gotbeer]

Cargo ship hits Baltimore’s Key Bridge, bringing it down. Rescuers are looking for people in water

They had one job.

Quote

Synergy Marine Group — which owns and manages the ship, called the Dali — confirmed the vessel hit a pillar of the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. while in control of one or more pilots, who are local specialists who help navigate vessels safely into ports.

 

[Jason]

That bridge gave way like it was made out of toothpicks. 

[Lhalo]

The ship lost power twice before it hit the bridge. I'm thinking maintenance might be the issue here.

[Blarg]

3 hours ago, Jason said:

That bridge gave way like it was made out of toothpicks. 

The mass of that cargo ship going 5 knots could plow through downtown Baltimore without stopping for blocks. That was like going through an erector set bridge in an suv.

[Blarg]

10 hours ago, arch stanton said:

Somebody's getting piss tested

I'm think a few few martime captaincies are vacant right now. 

[gotbeer]

3 hours ago, Lhalo said:

The ship lost power twice before it hit the bridge. I'm thinking maintenance might be the issue here.

 

[T.G.]

How tragic.

I can't imagine being in a car and plunging to the bottom of the ocean.  I can't imagine what went through those individuals' minds as they struggled to escape.  Hopefully, those that died, died on impact when their vehicles hit the water and hopefully they blacked out before that.  And those workers... It's just awful all the way around.

[Blarg]

Oh, say, can you see

By the dawn's early light

The bridge, you idiot

The bridge, the bridge, the bridge!

[jsnpritchett]

22 hours ago, Jason said:

That bridge gave way like it was made out of toothpicks. 

 

[T.G.]

Yesterday during the press conference - they said sonar showed there were vehicles at the bottom of the ocean.  Later, the governor said they did not have any indication there were cars on the bridge at the time of the accident.

It's confusing... but hopefully the governor is correct.

[gotbeer]

42 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Yesterday during the press conference - they said sonar showed there were vehicles at the bottom of the ocean.  Later, the governor said they did not have any indication there were cars on the bridge at the time of the accident.

It's confusing... but hopefully the governor is correct.

They were doing construction/pothole fixes on the bridge.  So it's probably the cars/cement truck that they were using.  From an article I read, the crew issued a mayday, then issued a catastrophic mayday like 2 minutes before the impact.  Someone was on top of the ball at the bridge, and immediately closed the bridge.  So it could have been a lot worse.

[gotbeer]

Police had about 90 seconds to stop traffic before Baltimore bridge fell. 6 workers are feared dead

[Taylor]

Season 2 Jimmy McNulty has been working 16 hour days because of this.

[St1ck]

2 hours ago, Taylor said:

Season 2 Jimmy McNulty has been working 16 hour days because of this.

 

[Don]

On 3/26/2024 at 11:39 AM, Lhalo said:

The ship lost power twice before it hit the bridge. I'm thinking maintenance might be the issue here.

There’s a show on the Smithsonian Channel (or something like it) called Disasters at Sea. Pretty good actually. But the first half of each episode is sort of the story of a modern maritime disaster, then the second half is a deeper investigation into what exactly caused it. I’d say failure to adequately address maintenance needs ends up being the cause somewhere around two thirds of the time, followed by (and sometimes in conjunction with) human error. After that comes inherent design flaws, and way way way at the bottom of the list is completely unforeseeable happenstance. Basically, almost all of these boil down to companies trying to cut corners or someone screwing up at their job.

[Lhalo]

2 hours ago, Don said:

There’s a show on the Smithsonian Channel (or something like it) called Disasters at Sea. Pretty good actually. But the first half of each episode is sort of the story of a modern maritime disaster, then the second half is a deeper investigation into what exactly caused it. I’d say failure to adequately address maintenance needs ends up being the cause somewhere around two thirds of the time, followed by (and sometimes in conjunction with) human error. After that comes inherent design flaws, and way way way at the bottom of the list is completely unforeseeable happenstance. Basically, almost all of these boil down to companies trying to cut corners or someone screwing up at their job.

I’ve watched that show a few times. Some of the wrecks in the Great Lakes are fun because the ships are in fresh water and preserved quite nicely. 

Edited March 29 by Lhalo

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Angels using this as an excuse for opening the season slow. 

[Jason]

[Jay]

On 3/26/2024 at 4:51 PM, Blarg said:

Oh, say, can you see

By the dawn's early light

The bridge, you idiot

The bridge, the bridge, the bridge!

Ah, excuse me
Oh, will you excuse me
I'm just trying to find the bridge
Has anybody seen the bridge?
Please
(Have you seen the bridge?)
I ain't seen the bridge
(Where's that confounded bridge?)