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I have seen a few articles about the ships/shippers insurance, its great that the feds are offering monetary support, but does the state/fed have any recourse from the shipper.
I would not be surprised to learn each individual ship is inside its own LLC, and that LLC will likely declare bankruptcy - so there will be few assets to recover. But this is just pure speculation.
Now I have to wonder, What was MDOT MTA thinking? Or smoking?
The Betsy Ross Bridge in Philadelphia is a rough contemporary of the Francis Scott Key span, and it crosses the Delaware River where it's still navigable by oceangoing vessels. It also has a similar design (only no suspended span in the middle of the truss; it's an ordinary through truss).
It has no dolphins around the piers framing the shipping channel, but it does have islands a few feet away from the piers on both sides designed to deflect ships away from the piers.
If the Delaware River Port Authority knew how to protect the bridge piers on the Betsy Ross, which opened in 1976 (one year before the Key), I have to question the wisdom of the State Roads Commission/MDOT MTA.
The deep blue politicians/thieves were thinking how to build a bridge as cheaply as possible, and that is exactly what they gave the citizens. That bridge was the final link completing the Baltimore Beltway, which began construction in the 1950s. Why they waited so long to build that final link is anyone's guess, but they did it as cheaply as possible. The bridge is only four lanes wide (two in each direction), with no lanes for bicycles or walkers or disabled vehicles. When they built it, they were thinking of using the same protection as on the Betsy Ross, but that was declared too expensive, so they left it out of the plan.
Above is a YouTube video link to a series of anchor drop fails. Some have asked why she’s didn’t just drop the anchor. It’s not like in movies and cartoons. It is a very dangerous operation on a ship. One of the videos is on a U.S. Navy ship that lost the entire anchor and chain. When the last of the chain comes out it whips across the deck before dropping into the water. Each link can weigh as much as 100 lbs depending on the ship, so,e weigh more and some weigh less. It’s not as simple as pushing a button or pulling a pin to drop the anchor.
Now I have to wonder, What was MDOT MTA thinking? Or smoking?
The Betsy Ross Bridge in Philadelphia is a rough contemporary of the Francis Scott Key span, and it crosses the Delaware River where it's still navigable by oceangoing vessels. It also has a similar design (only no suspended span in the middle of the truss; it's an ordinary through truss).
It has no dolphins around the piers framing the shipping channel, but it does have islands a few feet away from the piers on both sides designed to deflect ships away from the piers.
If the Delaware River Port Authority knew how to protect the bridge piers on the Betsy Ross, which opened in 1976 (one year before the Key), I have to question the wisdom of the State Roads Commission/MDOT MTA.
No idea what they were(n't) thinking. Maybe they figured that the odds of a ship going off course and ramming the bridge were too remote to be worth guarding against. Interestingly, just one month before the Key Bridge opened in 1977, a ship rammed the Benjamin Harrison Bridge in Virginia and knocked the support piers out. The bridge came down on top of the ship and, amazingly enough, the tall towers that held the draw span remained upright.
Of course, three years later, there was the horrible Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster in Florida, when a ship knocked that bridge down and claimed 35 lives.
Note the car that came within about a foot of plunging off the edge. The occupants survived, and later got their car back when a tow-truck operator (strapped in with harnesses) hooked a cable to it and pulled it back up to the structurally sound part of the bridge behind them.
Maybe MdTA could have shrugged off the Benjamin Harrison Bridge mishap, but how could they have possibly not fortified their bridge after the Sunshine Skyway calamity? It boggles the mind.
Incidentally, the piers on the Cheasapeake Bay Bridge also lack any kind of anti-ship protection. Think MdTA will find a few extra dollars and fortify this bridge? Or will they keep their fingers crossed on that one as well?
The deep blue politicians/thieves were thinking how to build a bridge as cheaply as possible, and that is exactly what they gave the citizens. That bridge was the final link completing the Baltimore Beltway, which began construction in the 1950s. Why they waited so long to build that final link is anyone's guess, but they did it as cheaply as possible. The bridge is only four lanes wide (two in each direction), with no lanes for bicycles or walkers or disabled vehicles. When they built it, they were thinking of using the same protection as on the Betsy Ross, but that was declared too expensive, so they left it out of the plan.
Construction of the bridge was funded through a bond referendum, which passed in 1968. When Spiro Agnew was governor of Maryland. He was Republican......and famous for being Tricky Dick's running mate and veep who resigned and pled nolo contendre to felony fraud and tax evasion charges.
Bicycling was never (and still isn't) a primary vehicle, although during WWII it became a popular mode of transportation due to fuel rationing. After the war, people certainly didn't want reminders of that. By the 60s environmental movements and hippies were calling for bicycle infrastructure but the first bills for bike lanes weren't introduced until the 1970s...at which point the Key bridge was already under construction.
But of course even if there had been more support for bike lanes at the time, it wouldn't have been for the Key bridge, which carried I-95--an interstate. Just as there isn't a bike lane or sidewalk on the shoulder of I-80 from coast to coast, or any other interstate, there wasn't and never would have been one on the Key bridge.
All of this is easily verifiable with basic internet searching and can't be debunked with random made up BS that is absurd on it's face.
Of course, three years later, there was the horrible Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster in Florida, when a ship knocked that bridge down and claimed 35 lives.
Note the car that came within about a foot of plunging off the edge. The occupants survived, and later got their car back when a tow-truck operator (strapped in with harnesses) hooked a cable to it and pulled it back up to the structurally sound part of the bridge behind them.
To be clear, the Sunshine Skyway bridge collapse occurred during extremely dense fog. It wasn't the result of a disabled ship floating into the bridge abutment.
And further, it wasn't a car that nearly went over the edge before being rescued by a tow truck. Six vehicles actually did go off the bridge (either directly above the collapse when it happened, or weren't able to stop in time) including a greyhound bus. 35 people died.
Get your story straight, if you're going to make comparisons and aspersions.
I really like how everybody is questioning how the bridge was built, why did it collapse, why were there no barriers, etc...
Has anybody just looked at the daytime pictures from the air of that ships size in comparison to the little erector set of a bridge. Just one look should answer all questions. I really don't care what kind of barriers were/were not in place, where the bridge was built, when it was built, how cheaply it was built. Just look at those pictures and you have the answer to why it collapsed.
Not much different then wondering how a Ford Fiesta would get so demolished after being T-boned by a loaded 18 wheeler.
To be clear, the Sunshine Skyway bridge collapse occurred during extremely dense fog. It wasn't the result of a disabled ship floating into the bridge abutment.
And further, it wasn't a car that nearly went over the edge before being rescued by a tow truck. Six vehicles actually did go off the bridge (either directly above the collapse when it happened, or weren't able to stop in time) including a greyhound bus. 35 people died.
Get your story straight, if you're going to make comparisons and aspersions.
Pretty funny that you criticize me for not getting my story straight. I lived in Florida when the Sunshine Skyway went down. I remember it vividly. Yes, "a" car did almost go over the edge, as shown in the picture. I never claimed that no cars went over the edge, so why would you criticize me for not saying something that I didn't say? I'm well aware that cars and a pickup and a Greyhound bus went down. I specifically mentioned the 35 fatalities. Incidentally, the driver of the pickup survived when his vehicle came down and landed on top of the ship. Oh, and by the way, it wasn't dense fog, it was a pounding rainstorm. I didn't mention WHY the ship hit the bridge, only that it did. My point being, neither bridge (Sunshine Skyway or Key Bridge) had any kind of protection for its support piers.
Yeah, what I'm reading agrees with that. I think MarianRavenwood misremembered and also didn't read carefully.
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I really don't care what kind of barriers were/were not in place, where the bridge was built, when it was built, how cheaply it was built. Just look at those pictures and you have the answer to why it collapsed.