US Bridge Collapsed by Ship Collision... "Impact of Larger Ships Compared to Completion Time"

In Baltimore, Maryland, USA, a major bridge collapsed due to a ship collision, and analysis suggests that the bridge, designed before the era of ultra-large container ships, could not withstand the impact of the collision.

On the 26th (local time), the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, collapsed after colliding with a container ship.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

In the early hours of the 26th (local time), the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali, departing from the Port of Baltimore, collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge spanning the Patapsco River near Baltimore, Maryland, causing most of the bridge to collapse within about 20 seconds. Among the eight workers performing pothole (road surface) repairs on the bridge at the time, six remain missing, with only two rescued.

According to local media, Maryland authorities stated that "the bridge fully met the standards," but experts suggest that since the bridge was completed in 1977, before the era of ultra-large container ships, it may not have been prepared to withstand collisions from such vessels. Although bridge design technology has improved since the bridge's completion, the size of container ships has increased rapidly, with capacity growing by about 50% in just the past decade.

Andrew Ba, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Sheffield in the UK, said, "While the video does not show structural defects in the bridge, it was likely not designed to survive a direct collision with a large ship," adding, "As the size and design of cargo ships have changed, there appears to be no protective infrastructure to mitigate the increased risk of ship collisions." Sanjaya Arwad, a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA, stated, "Bridges should be designed to withstand impacts from ships," but also noted, "All structures and engineering systems face the possibility of events beyond their design purposes. This incident may be one such case."

Same Badi, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at George Washington University, USA, said, "There have been many improvements in bridge design technology since the 1970s," and added, "I watched several videos before the collapse, and it seemed structurally very safe by the standards of that time." Roberto Leon, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, also noted that while engineers consider "extreme events" during the design process, "there were no ships of this size when the bridge was built," and "since such loads were not actually considered, this bridge can be said to have been quite defenseless."

This accident is expected to raise concerns about the safety of aging bridges across the United States. According to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), more than 43,000 bridges nationwide are classified as being in poor condition and "structurally deficient." Richard Gaddis, an infrastructure policy expert and professor of economics at Cornell University, USA, said, "This disaster shows how vulnerable America's infrastructure is not only to intentional destruction but also to sudden accidents," and added, "Strengthening protections against ship-bridge collisions will become increasingly important."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.