WTOP Part of Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses after large boat collision, sending vehicles into water

[Corcaigh]

19 minutes ago, China said:

 

Yes, do tell.

 

They would have CNN on in their offices and every now and then there would be a shout of “oh ****” when something happened … a rocket carrying multi-billion dollar satellites exploding on takeoff, a major cathedral catching fire meaning a pope’s tour would be cancelled and loss of all the souvenirs, etc.

[balki1867]

I know it's popular to rip on the ineffectiveness/incompetence of government agencies, but the actions those individuals took this morning, literally in a matter of minutes, was outright heroic. They had processes and systems in place to get the SOS signal and do something about it.  And when the time came, they took action and probably saved dozens of lives. 

 

My heart goes out to the six people that are likely dead, but this could've been so much worse than it was.  There's no way they respond this quickly without having assessed the risk beforehand, making plans for how to address it if/when it happens, having communications in place to hear the SOS and talk to each other, and then putting competent people in place to take action incredibly quickly.

Edited March 26 by balki1867

[EmirOfShmo]

3 hours ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

.....and one of the alternate routes is the Harbor tunnel that was completed in '57

Only if you don't have hazardous materials. There are height limitations of 13'5" (I think). Ft. McHenry height is bit higher

[tshile]

25 minutes ago, balki1867 said:

I know it's popular to rip on the ineffectiveness/incompetence of government agencies, but the actions those individuals took this morning, literally in a matter of minutes, was outright heroic. They had processes and systems in place to get the SOS signal and do something about it.  And when the time came, they took action and probably saved dozens of lives. 

 

My heart goes out to the six people that are likely dead, but this could've been so much worse than it was.  There's no way they respond this quickly without having assessed the risk beforehand, making plans for how to address it if/when it happens, having communications in place to hear the SOS and talk to each other, and then putting competent people in place to take action incredibly quickly.

if you listen to the dispatch on the YouTube video linked earlier - one officer was racing across the bridge to stop traffic on the other side. The bridge collapsed before he got very far. 
 

but if he drove faster or left 10 seconds quicker or the ship impact was 10 seconds later, him and his cruiser are in the harbor with the bridge. 
 

crazy how quick things happen 

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

16 minutes ago, EmirOfShmo said:

Only if you don't have hazardous materials. There are height limitations of 13'5" (I think). Ft. McHenry height is bit higher

 

The bridge was originally built to relieve pressure on Harbor Tunnel.

 

I was talking to a friend today and saying that 695 basically doesn't exist now. If you live in Dundalk or Edgemere, your commute to anywhere has become an endless nightmare.

 

This was far less of a human disaster than it could have been thanks to some pretty amazing police work. But the logistical nightmare is going to take years to resolve. It's basically a two mile interstate span over an ocean.

[CousinsCowgirl84]

2 hours ago, tshile said:

I can tell you from real case examples that it theoretically works that way. 
 

but that’s why you can have years long, expensive litigation when it happens. Then every word in the contract is analyzed. 
 

and believe it or not - sometimes people make mistakes. Like leave the cap space on the policy blank 😂 

 

when **** like this happens it’s case by case because everything is up for grabs to be scrutinize. Someone messing up on routine paperwork can take what appears like an obvious situation (like you saying they have a cap) and create some wild results. 

I googled after posting and it seem like Mearsk will be responsible and the insurance isn’t enough. But it was behind a paywall.

1 hour ago, tshile said:

Someone close to the experts. I only know what they share and what makes the public news. 
 

they successfully got a reinsurer to pay out enormous money because they left an incredibly important fill-in-the-blank on the policy empty 😂 

 

you know what you don’t want happening?

 

you don’t want a judge or jury deciding what it means when you forget to fill in a blank. 

You work insurance? lol. That explains a lot. 🥶

[Xameil]

2 hours ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

Glad to see we have some experts on International Maritime Insurance Compensation policies in here. I was scared I might have to seek someone out.

I wonder what the deductible is on a bridge.

[Renegade7]

This is sounding more and more like the epitome of "**** happens"...

 

Risk is predicated on something that could happen in the future, if it's actively happening its not risk anymore, it's an incident.

 

When probability moves to that level of certainty,  the priority becomes to limit impact as much as possible.  Save as many lives as you can.

 

That's what happened here, that boat coulda floated right between the beams holding up the bridge. But it didn't, direct hit. Is what it is.

 

Show me the boat was half ass inspected and who signed off on it we can talk more. But in the meantime I see a whole Lotta people that did what they could quickly and sometimes that really is all you can do.

Edited March 26 by Renegade7

[kfrankie]

19 minutes ago, Xameil said:

I wonder what the deductible is on a bridge.

 Couple billion probably.

[tshile]

6 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

Show me the boat was half ass inspected and who signed off on it we can talk more. But in the meantime I see a whole Lotta people that did what they could quickly and sometimes that really is all you can do.

I agree with you. 
 

and it’s dangerous making any real argument when it’s this early. The reporting is just wrong. I saw one report early morning they were “detecting submerged cars with sonar” and now we know there were no cars on the bridge. That’s just one example from this once innocent but the overall list of **** reporting early on is miles long. 
 

There have been some reports that my gut says mean the ship was having problems before it got to the bridge. It’ll be interesting if that turns out to be true, and what the investigation uncovered. It’s certainly possible it’s “**** happens”; but it’s also possible some bad decisions were made that caused a situation to turn into a bridge collapsing. 

[Destino]

 

[Metalhead]

The dude was probably in a state of shock and having survivor's guilt. Give him peace.

[Ball Security]

31 minutes ago, tshile said:

I agree with you. 
 

and it’s dangerous making any real argument when it’s this early. The reporting is just wrong. I saw one report early morning they were “detecting submerged cars with sonar” and now we know there were no cars on the bridge. That’s just one example from this once innocent but the overall list of **** reporting early on is miles long. 
 

There have been some reports that my gut says mean the ship was having problems before it got to the bridge. It’ll be interesting if that turns out to be true, and what the investigation uncovered. It’s certainly possible it’s “**** happens”; but it’s also possible some bad decisions were made that caused a situation to turn into a bridge collapsing. 

Wouldn’t it be possible/likely that the workers on the bridge had a vehicle or two parked on it?

[PleaseBlitz]

41 minutes ago, Metalhead said:

The dude was probably in a state of shock and having survivor's guilt. Give him peace.

 

Probably has warrants out. 

[TheGreatBuzz]

1 hour ago, tshile said:

I agree with you. 
 

and it’s dangerous making any real argument when it’s this early. The reporting is just wrong. I saw one report early morning they were “detecting submerged cars with sonar” and now we know there were no cars on the bridge. That’s just one example from this once innocent but the overall list of **** reporting early on is miles long. 
 

 

 

Local reporting is that the vehicles on the bottom were associated with the work crew. I'm assuming either their work trucks or personal vehicles that they drove to the site.

[tshile]

37 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

Wouldn’t it be possible/likely that the workers on the bridge had a vehicle or two parked on it?

 

4 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

Probably has warrants out. 

Makes total sense

[balki1867]

56 minutes ago, Metalhead said:

The dude was probably in a state of shock and having survivor's guilt. Give him peace.

Seriously. If I somehow came out of an experience like that unscathed, I’d just want to go home. He or she is processing the likely deaths of 6 coworkers, while being grateful to survive, while also processing the guilt that goes along with that. That’s a lot to unpack.  

Edited March 26 by balki1867

[brandymac27]

3 hours ago, Destino said:

I heard the bridge was vaxxed, weakening the steel with estrogen DNA. 

 

 

Everybody knows estrogen makes everything harder. 😁

[zCommander]

Dozen of cars went over the bridge right before the boat hits it. As to the comment about making a 90 degree turn I image that had to do with the power of the engine coming on and then off and the captain not in total control of it (not an expert and maybe someone on ES can explain more, perhaps @TheGreatBuzz?)

 

 

 

[balki1867]

3 hours ago, Destino said:

I heard the bridge was vaxxed, weakening the steel with estrogen DNA. 

 

 
Pfizer or Moderna though? I need to figure out how to link this to Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.

[TheGreatBuzz]

2 minutes ago, zCommander said:

Dozen of cars went over the bridge right before the boat hits it. As to the comment about making a 90 degree turn I image that had to do with the power of the engine coming on and then off and the captain not in total control of it (not an expert and maybe someone on ES can explain more, perhaps @TheGreatBuzz?)

 

 

 

 

I watched that a few times. I can't see anything but I'm betting that's when they dropped the anchor as a last ditch attempt to change course.

[zCommander]

Just now, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

I watched that a few times. I can't see anything but I'm betting that's when they dropped the anchor as a last ditch attempt to change course.

 

Ah, that makes more sense now. I totally forgot about the anchor. Thx!

[Mufumonk]

31 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

I watched that a few times. I can't see anything but I'm betting that's when they dropped the anchor as a last ditch attempt to change course.

 

I saw another video where someone mentioned exactly that. The aerial view shows the anchor dropped and angled away from the ship.

[PokerPacker]

52 minutes ago, brandymac27 said:

 

Everybody knows estrogen makes everything harder. 😁

And more difficult, too.

[TradeTheBeal!]

56 minutes ago, brandymac27 said:

 

Everybody knows estrogen makes everything harder. 😁

Brandymac has returned and she’s got dick jokes!!!