Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses after being hit by a container ship

1. did you see the size of the ship, now look at the size of the bridge
2. if they are 3rd world, where are we? a country that struggled to build one spaghetti junction on our busiest motorway and instead put in a round about
3. have you seen the rail infra here?

I answered the question you were hell bent on getting an answer on but instead of saying oh, fair enough, instead I've underlying issues! You could also have used other common boards speak, give yer head a wobble, take a good hard look at yourself.

Some of the MAGA brigade on various websites appear to be trying to exploit this tragedy and blame Biden, saying there's money going to Ukraine but nothing for infrastructure in the US.

Truth is about 90% of money for Ukraine actually stays in the US, a lot of what was sent there was old stock the US would actually have to pay to destroy such as cluster munitions, the bridge was being fixed, and its not Biden's fault the captain of the ship couldn't steer it properly.

isn't a large part of the problem that the Republicans have become infested with libertarian types who hate any form of government spending, so every second administration the budgets get slashed.,

"You want a bridge over that river, work hard and build your own bridge, don't expect other people to do it for you! And if you want to build it to shoddy safety standards, that's entirely up to you, the market will decide whether people want to use it."

The Republicans and the support for them is beyond my comprehension; they are literally anti-democracy. What's even more toe curling is they are the serial offenders when it comes to budget deficits. The usual pattern is the Republicans wreck the economy and finances and then Democrat governments come in and work like dogs to try and repair the damage, though that pattern has broken down a bit in more recent times as it all seems out of control since interest rates went to zero and negative.

A bridge over a busy shipping channel was left with single point of failure on each pier. Yet, no mitigation or protection of the piers appears to have been in place.

I've spent a lot of time stateside, much of it spread over the east coast and Texas. Once you move off the interstates? The roads quickly become a lottery unless using turnpikes. It becomes rapidly akin to driving the 1990's N7 or N20. Our infrastructure here has improved massively since 1990, whereas in the US it has stagnated and in many places, honestly regressed.

Our roundabout if it's the Dunkettle you mean? Could and should have been a spaghetti junction. Light gated roundabouts are a pain in the hole and we should have done better.

Yep, I have, I have the misfortune of needing to change in Limerick junction if I'm heading towards Dublin or Cork. It's still a journey I prefer to the Amtrak Boston - Baltimore corridor.

When was the last derailment here? Or the last fatal accident (not including suicide)?

The US rail system has about 1300 a year. Granted that's down from a peak of 9400 in 1978. Further to that, when was the last rail derailment in Ireland, even in the EU that resulted in damage such as that in East Palestine last year? That was just 1 Norfolk southern's many.

Safety in the US, despite the efforts of OSHA is still seen as a negative cost.

Sounds like this ship might have had issues:

CCTV and marine tracking data shows the container ship lost power for around 60 seconds about four minutes before it hit the bridge. It appeared to adjust its course and start smoking before impact.

The vessel's individual incident response service has been mobilised, Synergy added.

According to ship tracking website VesselFinder, Dali had been involved in a 2016 collision at the Port of Antwerp as it tried to leave the port.

It said the vessel had "substantial stern momentum" causing the collision with a stone wall of the quay.

The berth where the ship had been docked was "seriously damaged and closed for cargo handling operations due to safety reasons", the website said.

Takes years from law to repair of a massive bridge

Here is a video of a drive across this bridge when it was intact. Thats some bridge ..

it's no wonder some people have a phobia of going over long bridges.

My first thought was a row between the two pilots. Who was boss, one didn't agree with the other and the eye went off the ball. Just a theory in my head, and I am in no doubt that maintenance, infrastructure, and so on both re the ship and bridge could factor too. As you can see I have zero knowledge of bridges or ships, so I'll be following with interest to see. Sad loss of life, but it would have been quick I'd imagine, not that that is any comfort if you are plunging into the Patapsco River. RIP.

We shall see.

Days until a passage is cleared for ships but after postmortem, reopening the shipping lane is the next top priority to the port. Will disrupt traffic in the Baltimore area for years.

Before your time🤨 If only you had pulled your finger out and actually had an infrastructure week when you were Top dog 😉

as I find myself amongst new bridge engineers , no amount of maintenance would have made a difference. A different design where a section would have collapsed rather than the massive section that did ?

Ship was the Dali. It was fully laden and therefore between 200,000 & 250,000 metric ton of weight.

All ships have to have local pilot to steer them to deeper waters

Marine radar shows it started listing to one side about 800 yards before the strike, thus it will be the ship that will be the focus of attention.

It is not a busy bridge. The Fort mcHenry tunnel and Harbour tunnel takes most traffic in the area. It was mainly used by trucks carrying excess loads and hazardous materials.