General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHere's a longer and higher quality video of the Baltimore bridge collapse. Crash and collapse happens at 2:34
Link to tweet
elleng
(132,413 posts)peacebuzzard
(5,200 posts)...horrendous.
elleng
(132,413 posts)THINK of how things would have been if during a rush hour.
peacebuzzard
(5,200 posts)and it is way more disastrous than the Minneapolis/St. Paul bridge collapse which happened during day hours...
you are so right, in the dead of night there are fewer souls in movement..
it could have been more deadly....the force of the ship on that huge steel bridge is going to rewrite bridge engineering...
Old Crank
(3,882 posts)It the continues to the bridge. Bows stick out further than the ship at the waterline. Not sure how big the protective concrete would have to be to stop a fully loaded ship from hitting the bridge.
It will be interesting to see what comes from this.
peacebuzzard
(5,200 posts)the impact. could that have been the ship's captain in a vague attempt to stop momentum?
But the impact was so forceful no one stood a chance on the bridge.
I watched the long version when traffic was moving along sparsely as it should have been at that hour. Even an 18 wheeler that seemed to be speeding along since and perhaps, maybe... from his view the driver was mindful of the proximity of the ship.....
Rec
DontBelieveEastisEas
(568 posts)The lights went out on the ship for about 30 seconds, about the time it seems to shift course; then they came back on.
Then the last 30 seconds, it seems the engine smoke stopped.
peacebuzzard
(5,200 posts)like they knew something was really wrong....omg.
elleng
(132,413 posts)Hassin Bin Sober
(26,432 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,843 posts)I heard the guy on the other video saying the power was going on and off on the ship right before colliding and that the ship had actually slowed down as well.
This is going to be a big investigation. I wonder if mechanical problems were involved on the ship, but for cars to have stopped it seems like it may have been something on the bridge that went wrong for them to react that quickly.
It looks like it was aiming at the column in the bridge sort of like the planes that his the Twin Towers. I'm sure there will be silly conspiracy theories out within a few hours.
Drum
(9,298 posts)A ship can usually avoid hitting a bridge. Honestly!
elleng
(132,413 posts)Happy Hoosier
(7,640 posts)The ships crew seems to have understood they were headed for disaster and tried to take action the question is, was it just too late, or was something else happening? If it were just a screw up, i would have expected they could at least have avoided a direct hit.
elleng
(132,413 posts)VERY difficult to move such vehicle with any speed.
Happy Hoosier
(7,640 posts)Ive spent a lot more f time on aircraft carriers
response times are measured in minutes, not seconds.
Youre in Southern Maryland, right? I grew up there.
ForgedCrank
(1,837 posts)tell really. I noted the unusually dense and thick exhaust for the minute prior to impact. It appears to me they had it's ears pinned back, maybe trying to reverse and slow it down, then realized it a futile effort and tried a maneuver in vain at the last minute. It takes a very very long time to slow one of those damn things down even a little. Also, I believe at this point, it would have been under the control of a harbor pilot and not the regular crew.
And as others have noted, I can't even imagine the scale of the disaster had this been during peak rush hour.
Happy Hoosier
(7,640 posts)bucolic_frolic
(44,187 posts)Ship had less control than normal? So sort of climate change contributed?
elleng
(132,413 posts)tides have come in and out, and wind's moderate.
Happy Hoosier
(7,640 posts)Liberal In Texas
(13,773 posts)They went in on the collapse. I wonder how many fatalities there are going to be.
Baitball Blogger
(46,976 posts)many survivors this morning to tell us their story.
That boat must have been on auto pilot, because something terribly went wrong.
ProfessorGAC
(66,261 posts)Did the bridge fall onto the boat?
Hard to tell with the long range view, but it sure seems like it.
Happy Hoosier
(7,640 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,484 posts)... part of the bridge landed on some of the containers at the bow.
ecstatic
(32,933 posts)What a nightmare!
ProudMNDemocrat
(17,294 posts)There must be an investigation right away. This is a massive accident that will result in a completely new Bridge to be built.
ProudMNDemocrat
(17,294 posts)There must be an investigation right away. This is a massive accident that will result in a completely new Bridge to be built.
Alliepoo
(2,255 posts)I read another post here on DU about the requirement that a tugboat guide/accompany the ships. Was this vessel in a location that the tugboat was supposed to be guiding its course?was looking but didnt see anything that looked like that in this video but so many reflections and blinking lights its hard to tell.
Liberal In Texas
(13,773 posts)Harbor pilots guide ships in and out of ports. They are always aboard. They're put on when the ship approaches port and when a ship is leaving they are taken off by boat when the ship clears the harbor.