Thoughts On Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

https://nypost.com/2024/03/26/us-news/francis-scott-key-bridge-collapse-live-updates-latest-news/

So many thoughts.

I used to work out of Curtis Bay and I have been under the Key Bridge many, many, many more times than I have been over it. The bridge abutment has been hit before.

In the 80s they made major improvements to the abutment system due to a previous accident. There are four dolphins (impact fenders), two on either side of the bridge, that are supposed to protect the bridge from collision. The problem is that they are too small and too few. The bridge protection system was designed to protect the bridge from ships built in the 60s & 70s & 80s. The super sized ships of today are massive.

Second, if you live in the Washington – Baltimore area stand by for price increases. The Dundalk Marine Terminal is cutoff from shipping. Shipping containers bring in everything you can imagine, both foreign and domestic goods. Ro Ros bring in new vehicles, while combi carriers bring in heavy equipment, odds and ends. Nothing will be coming in until the channel can be cleared. Many truckers, who depend on the marine terminal for a living, will be forced to find work elsewhere.

They may be able to bring some items into Sparrows Point. Which is outside the bridge. However, there will be fights, lawsuits, etc… with the environuts and it may be easier to wait for a safe shipping channel to be cleared.

It is not going to be an easy time.