Seems a container ship hit it. Many working on the bridge at night are in the water.

I just saw a video short of it on FB.

If one didn't read the caption it looks like a controlled take down of the bridge.

The whole thing is in the water.

Chinese ship, so maybe?

Uncanny direct hit on support column....

How busy is that bridge this time of day?

didnt look to busy other than work vehicles

Been about 12 or 14 years since I was on it. Looked rickety then. Anybody in or near ST Louis I keep expecting the I70 bridge to fall apart. I see The I55 bridge at Memphis is open again. IMO the I70 bridge at St Louis is in worse shape. I quit crossing it.

You can see about the center of the bridge flashing lights on vehicles, probably the workers.

Vessel hailed from Singapore

Just saw a longer video posted by Andy Ngo on Twitter. Theres a half dozen or so vehicles that cross the bridge just prior to the strike. The ship looks like it turned too soon as it wasnt driving straight at the bridge. I would wonder if it was a autopilot/autonav error.

https://x.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1772561099977548058?s=20

Looks deliberate to me.

I didn't see any tugboats to help pilot that thing.

unreal

imagine the cost in lives and to re- build

latest numbers are 2 rescued and at least 20 missing.

Ship was probably being operated by a local harbor pilot...

X2.

the last time i crossed that bridge was about 50 yesrs ago . It was scary then.

looks like it had power issues. lights go out a few times before the strike.

ooks like it had power issues. lights go out a few times before the strike.

Good eye, might of been, either mechanical issue's or it was deliberate.

Unbelievable they didn't have protection cells in place to prevent a strike like this!

I bet nobody got thru airport security with nail clippers though..

It's Trump fault!!

Heard some data estimates that 14 million vechiles
cross that bridge span each year !!!

It may be over a year before authorities can clear
the channel under the bridge.

Port of Baltimore is the import destination hub of nearly
100% of all foreign vechile imports.

This is a major economic blow to the United States economy.

w

Here is a different perspective. The ship seems to have a total loss of power. Then the power comes back on, and you can see dark smoke come pouring out of one of the stacks as the pilot tries to maneuver and add power I would assume. They then lose power again and it comes back on again right before they hit the bridge.

Surely wouldnt take that long to clear it if they really wanted to? I would think with a big enough ship or three they could drag most of it out of the channel where they could cut it up and remove later

That video makes it look like the ship made a glancing blow to the bridge footer (hard turn to starboard and loss of power), passed the bridge upright, then backed up into it a second time. A bit suspicious for sure.

I keep seeing people say that but its clear that there wasnt any backing up. You arent stopping that beast, backing it up and slamming into the bridge in the amount of time seen in the video. Might of been a bit of bounce back but it was on full send.

I see that now, not sure why my brain saw it the other way. Definitely full send into the bridge.

I’ll bet the ship owners and the pilot are already lawyered up so it will be a while before we know what really happened , if ever.

Looks like power loss, if I remember right on a ship of that size if they went into reverse they could shear the screws off, so probably trying to power forward to push it into the shipping lane and try to clear the bridge.

First time I’ve heard about this,,, I’ll have to read up on this

Looks to me like a boat that was already going too fast coming out of harbor, then at last moment, poured on the coal to pick up speed, then turned to starboard, lined up on bridge and stayed there until it hit. Looks pretty deliberate to me.

new report is there was a mayday issued and bridge traffic stopped

I just heard the same thing SNIPERBBB; the ship issued a Mayday shortly before the accident and the workers on the bridge were able to stop all traffic. Six of eight construction workers are still missing according to the report I just read.

you can see the lights go out 2x it was coming in fast with no power then the power comes in they appear to try to turn then crash

I suspect we will see a 3 tug escort and a local pilot on the bridge of these ships in the future.

it is just way to easy for a ship this size to take out a major peice of infrastructure like a bridge to trust it to anything less.

Supposedly that ship has been plagued with power failure issues, and I seriously doubt it was deliberate, there would have been an American pilot on board.

Once those things are moving you ain't stopping it with a fast maneuver, in fact it looks like they almost missed that column in spite of the momentum.

That video showed several cars on the bridge not long before the impact but none at the time of impact.

We need scuba's opinion on this accident.

And Wolfie too.

The news said after the ship made a mayday call the construction workers were able to shut down traffic.

Equipment is en route already.
I suspect channel will be open within 90 days.

Anyone know the state of the tide when it was coming down river?

That can add or subtract depending but whatever the state the vessel needs to be making headway to maintain control. Otherwise you're just going where the water takes you.

By time of year that river should have the max water coming down so there's current.

If it’s intertidal they would probably time their departure to work with the tides, which are fairly big right now due to a full moon. Pilot would be on the bridge and hopefully the helmsman understands English. Crew on watch should all be on standby at stations prepared for such emergencies as loss of power and/or steering. Perhaps River Birch will chime in here-he would have some good insight

warrior, it is intertidal there, last hour of ebb tide so 1 to 2 kts I expect.



Definitely had a Chesapeake Bay pilot and maybe a harbor pilot as well. Ship crew may or may not understand English but must have an interpreter on board to relay commands.

A distracted bay pilot let one ship run hard aground just outside the river couple years ago, took months to get it off.

What everybody misses is the wind effect on a ship pilied up with containers....they act like a sail...no rudder response and you go where the wind and tide take you.

p.s. My brother is on one of the rescue boats that responded. He called me at O'Dark 30 on his way in to work to let me know.

Low tide was 0200, so.shouldnt have been much.
I saw calculation of force of a 3 mph wind, perpindicular, on Square footage of that ship/ sea cans, and perpendicular,
But reported wind was about 0.

Looks like they dropped starboard anchor right before.

Coast Guard inspects foreign ships for safety. The Captain of the Port and the ships agent surely have records of inspections.

Foreign ship? Cripple the nation from the inside before you go to war.

Thank you very much!

MTA cops were on the ball!
2 min from call to stopping traffic, one officer was waiting for relief to head back and get work crew off.

Somebody's Boss is gonna be whizzed!

How far is the nearest bridge traffic can use as an alternate route?

I heard that someone that lives near the bridge would take 45 minutes longer to get to the next bridge /tunnels.

Both of their insights^^^

I would say that is probably a conservative figure. East coast traffic is a nightmare even without a disaster like this.

Bridge was used, heavily, by Hazmats.
Can't go.in tunnels.

I wouldn't know as I avoid that entire craphole area. Last time I was there I went under it while on the R/V Aquarius with Martin O'Berry as Captn.

The current from the tide is probably the main factor.

Sounds like maintaince on the steering gear was the main factor to me.....jk

LOL, was on same, with same, over 40.years ago.
Went other direction though.

Fuzzy memories, cutting a deck at $5 a pop, high card wins, Cape Charles USGS station.
Hung over as I'd even been next morning, just in time for HORRENDOUS seas....

marine traffic show
looks like this is going to shut down a whole lot of product coming in and out
https://www.youtube.com/@wgowshipping

look to the end and see all the stalled ships, you thought Suez was a mess

the above post of mine should do this

What strikes me is how it was going parallel to the bridge then looked like it turned right into it. Seems kind of odd

I heard they dropped the an anchor as a emergency maneuver I would guess that is right about the time it caught

I am hearing engine trouble....no power to drive the vessel

Gary Benson, that is beautiful !!!!!!!!!!

That makes sense.

Now who is paying for clean up, the rebuild, and all the lost income from ships stuck in the port routing ECT.

You, me, us. Taxpayers get the bill.

Drop an anchor from the bow and it’s just gonna swing the stern around. If far enough away from the bridge it could’ve stopped them in time . Channel looks to be at perfect right angle to the bridge

IOU

Solved it **meme

Strategic subterfuge by foreighn navigation hackers....just ask Lara Logan.......brilliant attack on our infrastructure.

When I was a kid we would build houses on the living room floor with playing cards. Take 2 cards and make a triangle house and kinda keep adding more little 2 card triangles to it and we’d see how high we could build them.
Then someone would walk by and the little gust of wind would knock the whole house down just like that!
Anyways, that’s what that bridge falling down reminded me of.

Reminded me of the economy.

Yep , the tough guy already said he will pay every cent to repair the bridge , like it's his money and he's some kinda hero

Had a bridge fall into the Mississippi around 30 years ago. Was from a defunct RR line. Took em close to a year and half to decide then cut it into 3 pieces with explosive charges. By that time there were over 90 barges stacked up waiting. Nothing compared to the magnitude of this in comparison.

Build a bridge where there is boat traffic sooner or later one will hit it. When the whole thing collapses after its a design flaw, material degradation due to age, or both. We have a lot of iffy bridges in this country.

We have a lot of iffy bridges in this country.

I thought obama's muliti TRILLION dollar infrastructure bill was going to fix all that? What happened? lol

I don't see why they couldn't go out in front of the bridge a 100 yds or so and build a piling of sorts on each side of the bridge that's even more secure than what the bridge is sitting on. So if they are not lined up to hit the hole thru the bridge they would hit the piling and get stopped before hitting the bridge. The wife said it wouldn't hold it, but my reply was that the bridge held it, at least until the anchor took hold.

Maybe so, but probably not if it turns out to be a Union Job !!!

w

Oh it will be union job.....lol
A performance bond would help, but does anyone seriously think the union bosses and their pets in Washington won't balk at that....

Heck, put up a sign FREE SCRAP METAL, be gone in a week!

Better yet, a sign that reads DO NOT STEAL, be gone overnight

Can the bridge, tunnel it.
In the meantime all hands on deck, cranes on barges, cutting torches, inflatable bags to lift and get the channel open. I do not see why it will take years plural to clear that 450’ shipping channel.

Osky

Ship should have just kept going like an icebreaker.

I want to talk to that one survivor, that road that bridge down and swam away ..
What a ride that must have been !!!! One lucky dude !
One report said that he refused treatment…..

Just saw a video of deer hides washing up with wreckage in background.
Would post link, but language is what you'd expect...

When disasters hit, normal rules go out the window. Have heard of railroad tracks washing out in floods and the railroad was pushing boxcars full of rocks into the hole while the flood waters till raging. In NW MO during 2011 flood event, railroad had a tug push barges full of rip rap rock from river across farmer's fields.........pulling right into the hole while flood was still raging. As soon as flood waters stopped, they were replacing bed and track. That took days......not weeks or months.

They can come in a cut up the bridge with explosive charges and then drag the pieces off to the side with tugs and cranes. That is the Chesapeake. They have knowledge, equipment and resources the rest of us cannot even imagine. I'll be shocked if that takes more than a week or two to clear.

I think that was Chuck Norris

The work could be done relatively quick, lots of the major equipment necessary is already in Baltimore harbor.
You want it done fast put the Navy seabees in charge. Do they still have Seabees?

That was Boco.

May be right, guy didn't speak a work.of English..

they are building museums with the money, they are now considered infrastructure

Just like dc put the tax payer on the hook to foot the bill.

I just can't see it not being on purpose.
It was going past that piling, and all of a sudden , the black smoke from the stacks, and a hard right, right into the piling.
The more I look at the videos , the more it just doesn't look right.

I'm willing to accept it as an accident, stuff happens. BUT the apparent rush to not investigate and the social media silencing of those asking questions, often with nasty commentary, has my conspiracy alarms going off.

That’s exactly what the RR did here during the last big flood. It was nuts! More and different types of equipment than Ive ever seen. Miles of trucks loaded with rock on the side of the highway. I thought it would take all summer and they were back up and running in about a week.

I don't think the pilot did anything deliberate. But the black smoke was there. Depending on what they find out about the fuel and if it was polluted then that leaves me leaning toward suspicious activity toward who ever would have done that and just how that happened.

You win. Now we need ask Boco for the latest conspiracy theories.

I have hauled rock on those RR flood jobs. EVERY time weight limits and logs are exempt. Haul as much as you can without any falling off for as many hours as you can stand it.

Funny how that works aint it?

PS black smoke from a modern diesel is usually a sign the turbo came unglued and no power

Thing is , that's when the ship took a hard right , towards the piling.

sometimes, when smog controls are by passed or its exempt, black smoke means the throttle was mashed on

Exactly! They were parking equipment on privet property without permission. Parking trucks on shoulder of highway for miles.

They only needed about 6 trucks for rock because by the time the last one could dump the first one would be back. But they hired every truck in the area so nobody else could hire truckers to haul rock elsewhere. It was crazy. That river will be ready for shipping traffic in less than a month if they go about it like the RR does.

Any body with property that has a RR right of way has to give access to the RR. RR is required to fix and or compensate for any damage. Like imminent domain often the recompense gets sorted out by a judge.

they pay double what everybody else does

That was no accident that it hit the bridges. The ship company should pay they have deep pockets.

Well that's like a trip to the nearest McDonalds or Wal-Mart for me so should be no problem

Yeah, I actually have property that boarders RR right up to the river bridge and that's how it works here. I was giving bridge inspector a ride to and from bridge on 4 wheeler since road was washed out.

These guys were parking and unloading equipment on privet parking lots in town. A guy who owned a mechanic shop in town showed up for work and had nowhere to park his own car let alone customers. Guy from the RR said "figure out what we owe ya, but this is an emergency and we need the room."

What company gonna get the contract to build the bridge. Union or non union union have skilled people in there ranks that do good work. Non union will come in cheaper but in the end it will be more expensive with rework and China pig iron.

yes , and ditto on when it is 30 below and LP drivers are in shortage

Ride that bomb , all night long if you want

wife used to dispatch fuel and LP trucks

I'm not an expert but I was reading on another forum that ships burn bunker fuel which is really dirty diesel fuel. The fuel may have been so dirty that the engine stalled. I'm not an authority just something I read.

I have been reading the same thing. It sounds like like its already polluted, lol. They put everything from industrial waste to tar in it. It may have been so thick it stopped up lines or I would think water would be a killer.
The article I read said they burn clean diesel around the ports, then when they get to open sea they pollute away.
In the mean time the government has us commoners riding bicycles and wind up toy cars to stop pollution.

In my mind, the main problem with all these alternative theories is they fly in the face of the facts of what happened. Boat left harbor with aid of tugs until it got into the shipping channel.......it runs on a single diesel engine, that presumably had started and was running well enough they were willing to put out to sea using it. Then once in the channel, engine had ship making 8 to 9 knots running fair and true down the shipping channel. It maintained that speed and heading......then as it approached the bridge, had momentum and steerage to turn the boat about 15 degrees to starboard, then once on target, aimed right at the pier. The last few hundred yards, it was running straight at it. The chance of all that happening by coincidence owing to chance mechanical failures is preposterous.

What boat also has is 4 onboard diesel generators that provide electrical power. Big ones. Flickering lights and black smoke may have been problems with generator.....but all generators?

And keep in mind, boat normally has a crew of around 20. As far as we know, they all survived and are alive to say what happened. There isn't any reason to speculate as they know what happened. Anybody seen that press conference, cause I haven't. The black box they keep talking about may confirm their story, but their story is their story. They know what happened.

As to the RR, again, this is simply an analogy to make the point that for these types of events, the normal rules go out the window. They do what they got to do to fix it.

If the ship didn't make a hard left then no damage to the bridge is what I saw on the video.