The container ship weighs tens of thousands of giga-tons. No bridge pylons could withstand a hit form such a vessel. Rather, the bridge needed additional barriers further out from the pylons to gradually slow down the ship. But I'm not sure that enough such barriers could have fit in the area around the bridge.
Moreover, this is a failure to restrict the weight of ships allowed in the vicinity of the bridge (analagous to restricting height of ships in the vicinity of the bridge). But the governments responsible for such an oversight will not suffer because of this. Instead, the Federal government will bail out the local/state governments for this failure. There's a club, and the victims of this collapse weren't in it.
Terrible news. I have crossed that bridge a few times.
Guess the key would have been better construction...
The container ship weighs tens of thousands of giga-tons. No bridge pylons could withstand a hit form such a vessel. Rather, the bridge needed additional barriers further out from the pylons to gradually slow down the ship. But I'm not sure that enough such barriers could have fit in the area around the bridge.
Moreover, this is a failure to restrict the weight of ships allowed in the vicinity of the bridge (analagous to restricting height of ships in the vicinity of the bridge). But the governments responsible for such an oversight will not suffer because of this. Instead, the Federal government will bail out the local/state governments for this failure. There's a club, and the victims of this collapse weren't in it.
Clearly. The new goal in construction is to count on some piece being targeted. The goal then is to try to contain it to an individual piece.
Praying for all the people hurt by this. Hoping the damage is minimal.
This looks a LOT like a cyber attack:
Tragic. Hoping my friend in Baltimore is okay.
This link was posted by repelsteeltje 1 hour ago on HN. It received 146 points and 71 comments.
https://files.ekzyis.com/public/hn/hn_39825033.png
Wonder how long shipping in Baltimore will be completely blocked? That's huge.