Maryland governor calls for ‘full accountability’ in bridge collapse

The Hill ^ | 03/27/2024 | RASHAD SIMMONS

[ChicagoConservative27]

Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) on Wednesday called for “full accountability” following the collapse of the Francis Key Scott Bridge in Baltimore that left six people presumed dead.

Moore said on CNN there “needs to be a full and thorough investigation.”

“What led up to this? What made the ship lose power? What made them lose the ability to be ability to steer the ship? Do we have the right infrastructure that’s in place to be able to protect the people of our state,” he said. “So I think there needs to be a full reckoning, a full accountability, and I think we need to go wherever the investigation takes us to make sure that the people of our jurisdictions are safe.”

[lightman]

Increased traffic will be on the “inner loop” of the Baltimore beltway from trucks and RV hauling hazmat (including propane tanks) which cannot use the I 895 and I 95 tunnels.

[T.B. Yoits]

A Chesapeake Harbor Pilot was in control of the vessel.

They must have skipped the lesson on going inbetween the big metal things.

[tnlibertarian]

Isn’t that Sean Penn?

That's Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride.

[Mr. Jeeves]

"Do we have the right infrastructure that’s in place to be able to protect the people of our state?” he said.

Well, when your party's platform is to promise your voters you can indemnify them against any risk of any kind, forever, you can expect to get some hard questions when you fail.

[Robert DeLong]

Just so you understand though:

I’ve captained ships into tight ports like Baltimore, and this is how captains like me work with harbor pilots to avoid deadly collisions

But a pilot doesn’t come aboard the ship and take control of it, do they?

Post: They are just advisers to the captain, who is known as the “master.” The master still has full responsibility for the safe navigation of the vessel. So the pilot will meet the ship out at sea or at the dock if it’s in port and leaving to go to sea. They proceed up to the bridge. Usually they exchange greetings, and usually a little bit of ship’s swag is given, either a hat or something else, or at least a cup of coffee.

The pilots do not operate the controls of the vessel, the Captain does.

[ronnie raygun]

That bridge went down to fast and to complete if you ask me. Love when rats demand full investigation until the truth comes out and it isn’t in their narrative

[sphinx]

This is a classic example of a politician who has absolutely nothing of substance to say but feels obligated to squawk into every available microphone.

This syndrome is not limited to democrats.

The absence of abutments sufficient to withstand or deflect a ship collision surprises me. Yes, a big ship has a lot of mass. My layman’s sense is that the shipping channel should be designed so that an off course ship would run aground before striking a bridge pier. It’s easy to make ships run aground. Mother Nature does it all the time.

Could a ship take out the Golden Gate Bridge, the George Washington Bridge into NYC, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, etc.? I dunno. It’s probably easier to failsafe the channel than to build piers that can absorb the impact of a big ship. Is there enough room in the Patapsco River channel approaching Baltimore to do that?

[sphinx]

According to experts, the Francis Scott Key Bridge, constructed in 1977, did not incorporate fenders or protection cells, technologies that became common in the 1980s following similar accidents.

Thanks. That's the answer I've been looking for. So ... for over 40 years, Maryland DOT and/or the Port Authority has failed to retrofit an inexpensive safety upgrade.

Par for the course.

[Blue Highway]

Ok I could have sworn it was Sean Penn.

[AnAmericanMother]

Problem with that is you have to have the bridge to move the cargo once it is transferred to land.

At the same time it has to handle all the other traffic.

The photo is obviously of a much smaller channel that doesn't handle large cargo ships. In any event, it need not *stop* the ship - just divert it. They tend to slide along the revetment (which is why it's curved).

[AnAmericanMother]

Yep. Not dazzling or sexy, so the politicians weren’t interested in a relatively cheap retrofit that could have reduced or eliminated the risk.

[chickenlips]

It appears the entire pier above water on the south side of the bridge collapsed. The condition of the concrete structure below the waterline is unknown, but based on a direct hit likely has damage. From what I have read the water is about 50’-55’ there. The further an impact is from the anchorage point the greater the moment of inertia, that is the force acting on the structure. A 116,000 ton cargo ship hitting the top of a structure 50+’tall is not something a fender or bumper is going to mitigate. You have to design from the get go for that kind of force, you don’t just strap some protection to the bridge pilings. Plus the ship had slowed down before it hit the bridge, so even if the pier survived it’s still very questionable it would have survived a faster collision.

The whole answer to this issue was to have tugs escort these ships out beyond the bridge to the open channel. Clearly that wasn’t the protocol and now the consequences are being felt.

[Gaffer]

look to thee thyne self and to your lickpsittle minions, Governor.

[GailA]

Oil refinery owner sounds alarm over dirty fuel as Baltimore bridge collapse probe continues https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/oil-refinery-owner-sounds-alarm-over-dirty-fuel-baltimore-bridge-collapse-probe-continues

Cargo Giant That Took Out Bridge Had Silenced Whistleblower Who Warned About Safetyhttps://futurism.com/the-byte/cargo-giant-bridge-silenced-whistleblower
ENERGY Published March 27, 2024 11:03am EDTOil refinery owner sounds alarm over dirty fuel as Baltimore bridge collapse probe continues
https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/oil-refinery-owner-sounds-alarm-over-dirty-fuel-baltimore-bridge-collapse-probe-continues

The Baltimore Bridge Collapse Is Throwing the U.S. Coal Market for a Loop https://heatmap.news/sparks/baltimore-bridge-coal#:~:text=About%2020%25%20of%20U.S.%20coal%20exports%20flow%20through%20the%20port.&text=The%20Port%20of%20Baltimore%20%E2%80%94%20currently,would%20like%20to%20talk%20about.

[mewzilla]

Accident, my arse.

[mewzilla]

Behind a paywall, but the headline says enough...

‘A Lot of Chaos’: Bridge Collapse Creates Upheaval at Largest U.S. Port for Car Trade A bridge collapse closed Baltimore’s port, an important trade hub that ranks first in the nation by the volume of automobiles and light trucks it handles.

What a coinkydink...

[GailA]

2019 a crack in the Memphis M bridge was noticed, and the inspector failed to report it. About 1 inch wide. When it was noticed, the bridge was safely shut down, Someone else took the same photo 2 years before. There but for the grace of God Memphis didn’t have a Baltimore disaster. The old bridge was used, now it couldn’t handle the traffic well, lots of accidents.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/05/13/us/13memphis-bridge2/13memphis-bridge2-articleLarge-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale

Not the first bridge in TN to collapse. Tennesseans paid the bill. Not the whole nation.

[bert]

Governor Wes.

You are hereby absolved from blame

The bridge catastrophe is not your fault.

[mewzilla]

Problem is money is fungible.

It’s very likely TN didn’t pay much.

Just as it’s likely the people responsible in this case will pay bugger all.

[DeWalt]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣