Francis Scott Key Bridge Crashed By Ship...

[Talk2Me]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

I wonder if they'll replace everything, or just the damaged stuff and carry on?

And, when will be the opening?

Common practice is to replace the entire span.

Simply clearing the wreckage will probably take months. More than likely there will be no new bridge there for several years.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

They were within regulations and that is my point.

Ah I guess I took your post "There were no tugboats" literally to mean there actually were no tugboats involved at any point .

And again now "there are no regulations for them at that time of night". and "They were within regulations" appears to read as contradictory So I am still not clear on what you are saying
Now if you're saying the Regs should dictate that the tugs should take the ship out past the bridge 24/7 ? then I would agree (baring some actual logistical reason not to)

[DrunkUncles]

Originally Posted by Talk2Me

Common practice is to replace the entire span.

Simply clearing the wreckage will probably take months. More than likely there will be no new bridge there for several years.

As far as the clean up goes... My son who is in the Coast Guard and on a buoy tender out of NC was told to prepare to head to up the bay to Balt for an extended timeframe as they look to help in clean up efforts.

I know they are also moving other assets into the region for assistance. Clean up activities should start as soon as the investigation allows.

[edcmat-l1]

Biggest crane on the east coast is on site already. The article I read said the first thing they're focusing on after the recovery effort, is to figure out how to cut the large portion of bridge into small enough pieces to safely lift off the ship.

The crane is capable of lifting 2 mil lbs. They're estimating the large portion of bridge to be roughly 9 mil lbs.

[Tahitijack]

My first thought was why didn't the ship captain or pilot drop all the anchors?

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

My first thought was why didn't the ship captain or pilot drop all the anchors?

Several news sources and photos support that was done, and also explain how long it takes to stop that much weight in motion.

[islandguitar]

Originally Posted by imwjl

Several news sources and photos support that was done, and also explain how long it takes to stop that much weight in motion.

Yes, I believe that's correct. Also, a ship like this underway might need as much or more than a mile in order to come to a full stop.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by Talk2Me

Common practice is to replace the entire span.

Simply clearing the wreckage will probably take months. More than likely there will be no new bridge there for several years.

Indeed.

I would think removing, and rebuilding a bridge of that size would take a few years at least.

You have to wonder if the port will lose considerable business long term. I mean, once other systems are put into place, other locations and such, it seems it would be hard to get that business back.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

Indeed.

I would think removing, and rebuilding a bridge of that size would take a few years at least.

You have to wonder if the port will lose considerable business long term. I mean, once other systems are put into place, other locations and such, it seems it would be hard to get that business back.

Wise design and improvements could also make it more desirable than ever. The nonstop nature of ports makes improvements hard to do.

I get a lot of info and news on distribution and transportation from being in food industry. Our cabin neighbor works for one of the huge national trucking firms that also does drayage and hub/spoke. They can't roll out the electric semi tractors fast enough because the construction projects are so delayed. It gave me the thought that a lot of strategic improvements could get done as a tangent from this disaster.

[Dirk Hofman]

Thinking about how long it will take to rebuild. Nice that they don't have to worry much about earthquakes like we do here. Don't know the depth or the harbor or how much current they're dealing with, those would be factors.

If they can quickly come to a consensus on the design of the bridge, it might go more quickly than many fear. Modern bridge design has come a long way since truss-style bridges like this. Sounds like the more modern cable-stayed designs have more pillar protection by default, and as has been mentioned, they're going to want to install dolphins to protect it. But they're expensive.

Sounds like funding will clear quickly. I'm hopeful it'll be faster than we might expect. I wouldn't be surprised by a 2 year timeline.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Thinking about how long it will take to rebuild. Nice that they don't have to worry much about earthquakes like we do here. Don't know the depth or the harbor or how much current they're dealing with, those would be factors.

If they can quickly come to a consensus on the design of the bridge, it might go more quickly than many fear. Modern bridge design has come a long way since truss-style bridges like this. Sounds like the more modern cable-stayed designs have more pillar protection by default, and as has been mentioned, they're going to want to install dolphins to protect it. But they're expensive.

Sounds like funding will clear quickly. I'm hopeful it'll be faster than we might expect. I wouldn't be surprised by a 2 year timeline.

Dolphins ? I just saw a video of a bridge somewhere that had big concrete (what I call bumper or /barriers ) both up and down stream of the bridge supports and not connected to the bridge supports

[endpin]

I follow the Youtube channel of a tugboat captain who arrived at the port of Baltimore about six hours before the bridge collapse:

https://youtu.be/OSUg7XxV3g0?si=aTcoXDoh_Cd3WP_f


He posted an informed video about how tugboats can/cannot assist large container ships while they are underway:

https://youtu.be/IsdZVp0opsQ?si=P1d0yy1LhifCzUr2


He is pretty good about judging the momentum of large floating objects - not so sure about his e=mc^2 comments though!

https://youtu.be/IiLT2JHeBOQ?si=rZD1M5i8oOSbfT2N

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Dolphins ? I just saw a video of a bridge somewhere that had big concrete (what I call bumper or /barriers ) both up and down stream of the bridge supports and not connected to the bridge supports

I thought that's what they were called. Yes, looked it up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_(structure)

If I'm using that term incorrectly someone please LMK. I'm certainly not an engineer of any kind.