Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses into Patapsco River in Baltimore after vessel crashes into support column

[dmwnc1959]

A few current screenshots from Google Maps traffic and Marine Traffic zooming in on the bridge area …

 

Google Maps traffic 

 

 

Marine Traffic 

 

 

Edited March 26 by dmwnc1959

[SRF]

Was told one report mentioned using Beth Steel port for interim

[gsmith2424]

1 minute ago, KmomChicago said:

Is there a suitable port / dock? I realize being tiny she’s got additional agility that even an older smaller mainstream ship doesn’t. The cruise ships from the 90s and aughts are the original mega ships in spite of having been overtaken by newer behemoths.

From looking at the aerial, no way a main line cruise ship could get into DC. Its more for the yacht sized ones like ACL has.

[dmwnc1959]

8 minutes ago, SRF said:

Was told one report mentioned using Beth Steel port for interim

Is that Sparrows Point? 

 

 

[At Sea At Peace]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Heard there were 8 workers on the bridge as well…..  interesting aspect on the debark for current cruisers.  Have not looked at how many ships are currently sailing from there.  I think there are 4 cruise lines in total but not sure on the frequency.

 

Here's a link to the Cruise ship Port of Baltimore schedules by year and month.

 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/baltimore-maryland-cruise-ship-schedule.html

 

Here's 2024 - then screenshots though early July.

 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/baltimore-maryland-cruise-ship-schedule-2024.html

 

 

 

Edited March 26 by At Sea At Peace

[jimbo5544]

7 minutes ago, At Sea At Peace said:

 

Here's a link to the Cruise ship Port of Baltimore schedules by year and month.

 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/baltimore-maryland-cruise-ship-schedule.html

 

Looks familiar, thanks

[SRF]

11 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Is that Sparrows Point? 

 

 

Yes

[Noledad77]

3 hours ago, PC 462 said:

Unbelievable!

 

I've passed under it many times on Carnival Legend and Carnival Pride.

Prayers out to all of those involved. Hoping they are able to find more survivors and the fine folks in Baltimore are able to recover from this tragedy! 🙏

[paulypride]

1 hour ago, MRVEGAS711 said:

First thing in my mind is a deliberate act of terrorism or sabotage. The videos I am looking at do not show that ship anywhere near the center of the channel. If one person really wanted to f*** up Baltimore, one of the biggest  shipping port in the USA and the surrounding metro area of MILLIONS of people who commute over that bridge. They did just that. Yes, it could be an accident, but this looks extremely suspicious.

“There is absolutely no indication that there's any terrorism, that this was done on purpose,” Chief Richard Worley said at a news conference.

[surfone]

Wow,  was looking over to the bridge and watching the Legend leave Sunday while visiting our son and family (they live federal hill area) can see from their rooftop,   he said a few neighbors heard a big thunder type sound when it collapsed.  So much debris and will be a big undertaking for repairs, etc.,  a big economic impact, too with so many imports and exports of products. I am sure it will be a priority and as quickly as possible to repair.  I'm thinking Cape Liberty or NY to return for the cruise ships unless they decide to fly people home from one of the FL ports.  Norfolk is under construction.  Thankful it was not at a busy time but so tragic for those impacted.

[BrianC0000]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

1983 I-95 bridge collapse in Connecticut. They had a temporary bridge in place in 3 weeks and the bridge repaired in 3 months.

uhhh - apples and oranges, I'm afraid... the Connecticut I-95 bridge collapse was a very small concrete/steel segment - not an entire truss structure hundreds of feet long.  Going to take a very long time to get something built to replace the Key bridge for sure.

[Laszlo]

38 minutes ago, paulypride said:

“There is absolutely no indication that there's any terrorism, that this was done on purpose,” Chief Richard Worley said at a news conference.

Not going to argue but they have not talked to the crew. Reports are the lights on the ship went out twice do to a power failure. It only takes 2-3 crew members on a ship of that size to shut power off. Not saying that happened but that is one possible scenario. You can see a huge black fume of smoke right before the ship hit, most likely due to getting power back and trying to go full reverse 

[sparks1093]

1 minute ago, BrianC0000 said:

uhhh - apples and oranges, I'm afraid... the Connecticut I-95 bridge collapse was a very small concrete/steel segment - not an entire truss structure hundreds of feet long.  Going to take a very long time to get something built to replace the Key bridge for sure.

I wasn't really making a comparison other than to point out that when there is a huge economic impact due to something like this the wheels tend to turn faster. In any event the waterway will be open to traffic long before the road is, and the waterway is the main focus of this forum.

[BrianC0000]

2 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I wasn't really making a comparison other than to point out that when there is a huge economic impact due to something like this the wheels tend to turn faster. In any event the waterway will be open to traffic long before the road is, and the waterway is the main focus of this forum.

Agreed - they'll get that waterway opened in short order. 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Not going to argue but they have not talked to the crew. Reports are the lights on the ship went out twice do to a power failure. It only takes 2-3 crew members on a ship of that size to shut power off. Not saying that happened but that is one possible scenario. You can see a huge black fume of smoke right before the ship hit, most likely due to getting power back and trying to go full reverse 

 

Live video of the crew investigation (warning - contains bad words).

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26 by Guest

[aborgman]

11 minutes ago, BrianC0000 said:

 not an entire truss structure hundreds of feet long.

 

 

It's worse than that.

 

The Francis Scott Key bridge isn't "hundreds of feet" long.

 

It is 8,636 feet long - with a largest single span of 1,200 feet.

[BrianC0000]

2 minutes ago, aborgman said:

It is 8,636 feet long - with a largest single span of 1,200 feet

right - but only the 1,200-foot steel truss is what collapsed (that's why I said "hundreds") - the entirety of the Key bridge doesn't need to be rebuilt - just that steel truss structure. 

Still a disaster that will take a LONG time to rectify nevertheless. 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

 

It's worse than that.

 

The Francis Scott Key bridge isn't "hundreds of feet" long.

 

It is 8,636 feet long - with a largest single span of 1,200 feet.

 

It's going to take a long time to get all that out of the waterway. This is going to make the I-95 bridge repair in Philadelphia look elementary.

[aborgman]

Just now, BrianC0000 said:

right - but only the 1,200-foot steel truss is what collapsed (that's why I said "hundreds") - the entirety of the Key bridge doesn't need to be rebuilt - just that steel truss structure. 

 

 

No it's the 1,200 span PLUS the spans cantilevered on the opposite sides of the piers.

 

Look at the image -

 

 

 

[Essiesmom]

It took 7 years for the Sunshine Skyway bridge in St. Pete to be replaced.  But they still had one span working.  EM

[BrianC0000]

1 minute ago, aborgman said:

No it's the 1,200 span PLUS the spans cantilevered on the opposite sides of the piers.

Good call... my point was only that it's not the entirety of the 8,600+ feet of bridge. 

[aborgman]

1 minute ago, BrianC0000 said:

Good call... my point was only that it's not the entirety of the 8,600+ feet of bridge. 

 

Correct - it looks to be about 3,600 feet plus a bit (depending on damage to next set of piers).

 

Still a really huge amount of bridge to rebuild.

[Earthworm Jim]

11 minutes ago, Afttastic said:

 

It's going to take a long time to get all that out of the waterway. This is going to make the I-95 bridge repair in Philadelphia look elementary.

 

The Left Coast Lifter (Largest barge crane ever used on the U.S. West Coast. Used during construction of the SF-Oak Bay Bridge and NY's Tappan Zee Bridge.) is currently for sale and based in Wilmington, Delaware. (Which is close by land but would require looping around the DelMarVa peninsula by sea) I would think that would have great value both removing the wreckage and eventually building the new bridge. My guess is their phone has been ringing this morning.

 

[sammee]

1 hour ago, surfone said:

Wow,  was looking over to the bridge and watching the Legend leave Sunday while visiting our son and family (they live federal hill area) can see from their rooftop,   he said a few neighbors heard a big thunder type sound when it collapsed.  So much debris and will be a big undertaking for repairs, etc.,  a big economic impact, too with so many imports and exports of products. I am sure it will be a priority and as quickly as possible to repair.  I'm thinking Cape Liberty or NY to return for the cruise ships unless they decide to fly people home from one of the FL ports.  Norfolk is under construction.  Thankful it was not at a busy time but so tragic for those impacted.

That would be my guess too, they used this port with hurricane changes  some years back. At least to get everybody back home or back to Baltimore for car pickups.

 

[MistyRo76]

4 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Sounds like case of bad navigation on the part of the bridge crew of the cargo ship (just a preliminary thought and the investigation should shed more light on the cause). I couldn't believe my eyes when I read and watched the news about it this morning. Pray for everyone, indeed.

I saw another video that shows the lights going off on the ship as it was coming under the bridge, then turning back off. Then you can see dark smoke coming from the ship. Then the lights go off/on one more time before it finally makes contact with the bridge. It seems like there was some loss of power or a mechanical issue prior to the impact. What a horrific accident. Water temps are around 48 degrees in that area right now with overnight air temps in the low 40's. Hard to believe someone could sustain life in those temps for very long. Praying for everyone involved in this tragedy!