I think people are blaming less the infrastructure of the bridge built ages ago, and rather trying to see if this is a result of the growing competency crisis..
So all long bridge designs are retarded and we shouldn't build bridges long enough that they require piers or something? Jeebus you're retarded
That's because Baltimore is a special commodities port. That includes dangerous goods. On top of that, this bridge in particular is a hazardous materials route. So the likelihood of some nasty shit being either on the bridge itself or on the ship is very high.
Let me make something very clear to you. It is a 200k ton ship that's out of control at full speed and ramming directly into what's essentially a major support beam. Nothing is surviving that. There is no structure we have made that CAN survive that. It's just not going to happen no matter what theoretical physics say. It's a cargo ship.
If you are an engineering student then I’m huckleberry Finn. You compare a bridge in Vietnam to a 100,000 ton ship hitting a support pier of a giant bridge that just had one of 2 main support columns smashed with (I’ll say it again) 100,000 tons or so of inertia? And are curious as to why an immense span can’t hold the load?
If you look at the video it struck the inner most supports and not dead-on. A lucky shot by the ship. The heavier the bridge and the greater the span the less tolerance there is for sheer loads. Looking at a video and screaming “poor engineering” without knowing how the ship impacted or why it did the damage is premature. You don’t know what the supports were rated for, you don’t know the weight or speed of the ship or how or exactly where it collided.
Maybe if you didn't try to act coy about it for no reason. Since the truss is the only actual loadbearing part it is a singular point of failure. Not great for anything more than a bridge across a creek or small river.
Loss of power. It could be the result of many things. But be aware these boats are building sized massive and building sized heavy. Slam one of those into a bridge that is old held up my physics and wires and well this shit will happen.
Only thing I could think of is if they gave it something else to ram into before the pier. Like pillars of cement or artifical island-like stuff around the pier. So the boat would basically run ashore or hit the not-pier before hitting the pier and hopefully be stopped. The kinetic force would probably just wreck the pier as well, however.
Baltimore should not have redeemed Sar! We told you do not redeem! You did not do the needful!
Even if it is a white captain, it shows the failure of promoting competency and meritocracy.
I love the optimism but sorry to say there's no fucking way no one died from that. Hell I'm very surprised that anyone that was on the collapsed section survived that fall. Apparently two workers were rescued and one hospitalized. Looking at the bridge specifications its almost a 200 foot fall into the water, and a fall into water depending on multiple factors can be fatal around the 50 foot mark.
Seconding this one, but because the ship ripped through the support so easily, it's like the support was made of paper mache. I want to bet something about this bridge was not up to regulation, and some overseeing official turned a blind eye because the people in charge of construction were either Black, women or both.
