Here is the best view I have seen of the collision of the container ship and Francis Scott Key Bridge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDceU9x58vc I watch it closely. There is a 6 knots speed limit before and at the bridge. This ship was moving between 3 to 5 knots at best. The Captain should have been able to drop it anchors and stop the ship. It looks like, at this angle, the ship was directed to the bridge and ran into the pile holding the bridge up.
That would be one scenario to produce the image. Another scenario would be that the ship was navigating across a current, and when the ship power went off the Diesel engines also went offline, the ship lost headway (steerage), then drifted into the bridge support. Commenters were remarking that there was a strong flow beneath the bridge, which would have the effect of aligning a drifting ship to be perpendicular to the bridge span.
The requirements for a bridge are set by people farther up the expertise chain than we are. Should an airport be able to handle a direct hit by a crashing 747? Should every highway lampost be able to handle a direct hit by a semi-trailer? There comes a point where the trade study incorporates the cost of preventive measures instead of the cost of building a miniature fortress that would experience damage anyway. I expect more will come out about the criteria used for the bridge design.
Saw an interview where some engineer said that the bridge was built 50 years ago with standards used back then- no bridge from back then could withstand a direct hit from a modern container ship. You gotta remember those ships are mammothly huge these days....
Here is the best view I have seen of the collision of the container ship and Francis Scott Key Bridge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDceU9x58vc I watch it closely. There is a 6 knots speed limit before and at the bridge. This ship was moving between 3 to 5 knots at best. The Captain should have been able to drop it anchors and stop the ship. It looks like, at this angle, the ship was directed to the bridge and ran into the pile holding the bridge up.
According to a statement from the Mayor, the ship was moving at 8 knots.
That would be one scenario to produce the image. Another scenario would be that the ship was navigating across a current, and when the ship power went off the Diesel engines also went offline, the ship lost headway (steerage), then drifted into the bridge support. Commenters were remarking that there was a strong flow beneath the bridge, which would have the effect of aligning a drifting ship to be perpendicular to the bridge span.
Serious question. Shouldn’t the bridge support be able to handle a direct hit?
The requirements for a bridge are set by people farther up the expertise chain than we are. Should an airport be able to handle a direct hit by a crashing 747? Should every highway lampost be able to handle a direct hit by a semi-trailer? There comes a point where the trade study incorporates the cost of preventive measures instead of the cost of building a miniature fortress that would experience damage anyway. I expect more will come out about the criteria used for the bridge design.
Saw an interview where some engineer said that the bridge was built 50 years ago with standards used back then- no bridge from back then could withstand a direct hit from a modern container ship. You gotta remember those ships are mammothly huge these days....
Bigly.