Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapses

[Mr. Matt]

yeah, it would be hard stupid expensive to design something that could absorb or resist that kind of energy

There are concrete fenders, aka "dolphins," that are typically installed around major supports in the water on newer projects (i.e. the replacement Sunshine Skyway Bridge). I heard elsewhere that they might not have been installed around this bridge because the supports were clear of the main shipping channel. However it doesn't appear that there was much around the bridge supports in Google Earth views. The adjacent power lines that were constructed in the past few years appear to have a better fender system.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I'm not exactly sure how you would design a bridge that could resist a cargo ship slamming into it, other than turning it into a causeway.

Looking at the video, it slammed right into one of the support towers. I can't say I've ever seen anything like it.

The bridge predates current bridge construction standards it seems.

I doubt this is in any building code

I understand that I came off as saying that if it was newer it wouldn't have collapsed. That's not what I was saying.

[Sir Mohamed]

Horrible scene.

That said, we would for sure have more dead or injured at another time of the day.

[DrScholl]

Terrible accidents happen. It isn't necessary to try and blame anyone. You don't need to be on rant or ready to jump on a soapbox about everything. The problem with people nowadays is that they are ready to fight about everything 24/7.

[Crumpets]

yeah, it would be hard stupid expensive to design something that could absorb or resist that kind of energy

I think a new bridge would probably (hopefully) be able to isolate something like this to collapse only a single span or two spans and not the whole bridge, but yeah. If you hit basically anything with a 95,000 ton ship, it's going to be destroyed.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Terrible accidents happen. It isn't necessarily try and blame anyone. You don't need to be on rant or ready to jump on a soapbox about everything. The problem with people nowadays is that they are ready to fight about everything 24/7.

Yeah this is a real problem.
Very well said.

[Sir Mohamed]

Terrible accidents happen. It isn't necessarily try and blame anyone. You don't need to be on rant or ready to jump on a soapbox about everything. The problem with people nowadays is that they are ready to fight about everything 24/7.

Yup, though human nature tends to overreact sometimes and just do something for to do something. That our infrastructure isn't exactly first world level in many places is hardly a secret. We have it in our hands to degree by voting for the right people in govt.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Terrible accidents happen. It isn't necessary to try and blame anyone. You don't need to be on rant or ready to jump on a soapbox about everything. The problem with people nowadays is that they are ready to fight about everything 24/7.

Francis Scott Key Bridge was an inside job.

[Vice President Christian Man]

Absolutely awful, it reminds me of the 2007 bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Prayers to those impacted and their families, but I'm grateful it occurred during a low traffic time.

[Sir Mohamed]

https://twitter.com/axios/status/1772615249457267003

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

https://twitter.com/axios/status/1772615249457267003

I think this is outdated. They are now saying 2 rescued, 6 missing.

[Illiniwek]

Terrifying scene, and an absolute tragedy for those that did not make it.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

This is obviously a horrible situation.
But at least initially, it seems like everyone did the best they could do, and probably miraculously kept the loss of life in the single digits.

Potentially there could be a lot of parallels for Wes Moore here with Josh Shapiro and the I-95 reconstruction last year (although rebuilding a bridge is almost certainly a much larger task).

[GP270watch]

 This is a tragedy and people are still missing. Long term this could be very bad for inflation and the moving of goods.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/justin_fenton/status/1772668088703418610

[Tekken_Guy]

This is a tragedy and people are still missing. Long term this could be very bad for inflation and the moving of goods.

It’s not going to drive up inflation:

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/cargo-ship-bridge-crash-baltimore-harbor-means-economy/story?id=108506177

“The bridge collapse will not meaningfully affect the U.S. Economy”, says Mark Zandi of Moody’s.

[heatcharger]

This is a tragedy and people are still missing. Long term this could be very bad for inflation and the moving of goods.

It’s not going to drive up inflation:

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/cargo-ship-bridge-crash-baltimore-harbor-means-economy/story?id=108506177

“The bridge collapse will not meaningfully affect the U.S. Economy”, says Mark Zandi of Moody’s.

Thank you Baghdad Bob, very cool!

[Tekken_Guy]

This is a tragedy and people are still missing. Long term this could be very bad for inflation and the moving of goods.

It’s not going to drive up inflation:

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/cargo-ship-bridge-crash-baltimore-harbor-means-economy/story?id=108506177

“The bridge collapse will not meaningfully affect the U.S. Economy”, says Mark Zandi of Moody’s.

Thank you Baghdad Bob, very cool!

What are you talking about?

[heatcharger]

It’s not just the bridge, it’s the access to the harbor that has to be considered

https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1772657903511412946?s=46&t=J_equ31A3oC9...

The Supply Chain is sensitive to these things.

[Tekken_Guy]

It’s not just the bridge, it’s the access to the harbor that has to be considered

https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1772657903511412946?s=46&t=J_equ31A3oC9...

The Supply Chain is sensitive to these things.

This is a very different situation from COVID when supply chains were shut down entirely because people stopped working. It’s just delays which while not ideal aren’t catastrophic to supply chains.

Secondly clearing out the bridge shouldn’t take too long, maybe a week or two like with the Philadelphia tunnel?

[GM Team Member and Deputy PPT WB]

any economic impact will be extremely short term or local. But jeez, can we not doom about economic stuff when what's at hand is a tragedy? Quite literally this is like that meme of the Earth exploding with the caption "this will be bad for the economy"

[John Dule]

any economic impact will be extremely short term or local. But jeez, can we not doom about economic stuff when what's at hand is a tragedy? Quite literally this is like that meme of the Earth exploding with the caption "this will be bad for the economy"

It's worth discussing these things whenever something like this happens. The drought in Panama, the attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea, the recent proliferation of train robberies in LA, and the war in Ukraine have all contributed to inflation and supply chain problems, and this certainly won't help.

[President Johnson]

Terrible tragedy. The only somewhat not bad news it didn't occur during rushhour or at day.

[Storr]

In case anyone wondered what Stonetoss' perspective on this incident was:

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I kid you not, this is one of the most most erratic fears I have - being on a collapsed bridge over water.