thrILL! Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Goodness gracious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas492 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 I saw it on Fox News this morning. The ship was flashing it's lights on and off prior to the impact, as if they were trying to warn cars on the bridge that something was wrong with the ship. Could have been a mechanical issue for sure. Conspiracy theorists are already feeling like it was hijacked. Who knows. Sure looked awful on tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leader Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 2 minutes ago, vegas492 said: I saw it on Fox News this morning. The ship was flashing it's lights on and off prior to the impact, as if they were trying to warn cars on the bridge that something was wrong with the ship. Rather than a warning...thats consistent with a loss of power which jived with the vessel's going off course and ultimately striking the bridge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJerkDave Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 My boss and I were talking about that. The lost people are dead. They fell 100 feet into like 40 degree water. If the crash didn't kill them, the cold water dropped their core temperature too low to escape. We deal with a lot of river traffic. I wonder how big of a boat, going at what speed is needed to knock out a bridge like that. There are at least 4 major bridges in St Louis beyond our canal. Was this a design flaw, or was it impractical to think a bajillion ton barge is going to miss its window and hit a support? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leader Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 (edited) 6 minutes ago, ThatJerkDave said: My boss and I were talking about that. The lost people are dead. They fell 100 feet into like 40 degree water. If the crash didn't kill them, the cold water dropped their core temperature too low to escape. We deal with a lot of river traffic. I wonder how big of a boat, going at what speed is needed to knock out a bridge like that. There are at least 4 major bridges in St Louis beyond our canal. Was this a design flaw, or was it impractical to think a bajillion ton barge is going to miss its window and hit a support? Unfortunately, accidents happen. BWI is a major US port and east coast hub with hundreds of vessels safely going under the bridge to/from the sea. I believe they'll determine some mechanical issue on the vessel caused it to go off course. Edited March 26 by Leader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJerkDave Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 4 minutes ago, Leader said: Unfortunately, accidents happen. BWI is a major US port and east coast hub with hundreds of vessels safely going under the bridge to/from the sea. I believe they'll determine some mechanical issue on the vessel caused it to go off course. Correct. I am just wondering how the bridge itself was compromised. It could be as simple as it being built 80 years ago and the engineers not foreseeing ships so large. It could have been already failing and this just pushed it over the edge. Perhaps it was not built to earthquake withstanding specifications because it is on the East coast. Like, I couldn't take my jet-ski and ram it into the support and take out the whole bridge. But what about a garbage barge? Do they need to regulate how heavy a ship can be to go under certain bridges? They do that for trucks going over them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leader Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 2 minutes ago, ThatJerkDave said: Correct. I am just wondering how the bridge itself was compromised. It could be as simple as it being built 80 years ago and the engineers not foreseeing ships so large. It could have been already failing and this just pushed it over the edge. Perhaps it was not built to earthquake withstanding specifications because it is on the East coast. Like, I couldn't take my jet-ski and ram it into the support and take out the whole bridge. But what about a garbage barge? Do they need to regulate how heavy a ship can be to go under certain bridges? They do that for trucks going over them. Well...it's true that this nation's bridges have suffered from lack of attention for years (something finally being addressed...) but the video shows the vessel making a considerable (I wont say direct) hit on the stanchion. I dont think it was bridge, design, age or decay that caused the bridge above to break and fall. If the vessel weren't loaded with containers...perhaps (but unlikely) the reduced weight wouldnt have brought the bridge down...I cant say, but doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas492 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 7 minutes ago, ThatJerkDave said: Correct. I am just wondering how the bridge itself was compromised. It could be as simple as it being built 80 years ago and the engineers not foreseeing ships so large. It could have been already failing and this just pushed it over the edge. Perhaps it was not built to earthquake withstanding specifications because it is on the East coast. Like, I couldn't take my jet-ski and ram it into the support and take out the whole bridge. But what about a garbage barge? Do they need to regulate how heavy a ship can be to go under certain bridges? They do that for trucks going over them. Everything is to scale. Take a new jet ski and run it on a smaller river, then attack a footbridge. Side note....we have a place in Sturgeon Bay in Door County. We see these large ships come through every late fall/early winter. I want to say that there are two bridges kind of close together, like maybe they are a quarter mile away. I've seen ships come through and they will have one part of the ship under one bridge while the other part is under the other bridge. It is crazy how tight everything is and how skilled those ships and captains are. Watching the fleet come into Sturgeon Bay is really a sight to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatJerkDave Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 4 minutes ago, vegas492 said: Everything is to scale. Take a new jet ski and run it on a smaller river, then attack a footbridge. Side note....we have a place in Sturgeon Bay in Door County. We see these large ships come through every late fall/early winter. I want to say that there are two bridges kind of close together, like maybe they are a quarter mile away. I've seen ships come through and they will have one part of the ship under one bridge while the other part is under the other bridge. It is crazy how tight everything is and how skilled those ships and captains are. Watching the fleet come into Sturgeon Bay is really a sight to see. My facility is right on the canal in St Louis. About a quarter mile from the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, the Mississippi hits a section of bedrock and is like 3 feet deep. There is a canal North of St Louis that bypasses this shallow portion of the river. Every boat goes through our canal. I don't believe we have any quite as big as the one in Baltimore, that looks like an ocean vessel. But we do have quite a few very impressive barges going through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leader Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 2 minutes ago, vegas492 said: Side note....we have a place in Sturgeon Bay in Door County. We see these large ships come through every late fall/early winter. I want to say that there are two bridges kind of close together, like maybe they are a quarter mile away. I've seen ships come through and they will have one part of the ship under one bridge while the other part is under the other bridge. It is crazy how tight everything is and how skilled those ships and captains are. I cant speak to the waterway and bridges you're referring to...nor the commerce / vessels...but many bridges are old and once in place...they're done. Vessel designs have changed *considerably* in recent times - mostly increasing in size and capacity to carry. The Skyway Bridge down here is the gateway to Tampa Bay. It's not a major hub for container vessels - but does accommodate a lot of cruise vessels - which have gotten huge and pass *just under* the newest span of the Skyway. I've been on a cruise out of Tampa and was amazed when I saw how close the top of the vessel was to the bridge when passing under. It was a matter of feet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas492 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 14 minutes ago, Leader said: I cant speak to the waterway and bridges you're referring to...nor the commerce / vessels...but many bridges are old and once in place...they're done. Vessel designs have changed *considerably* in recent times - mostly increasing in size and capacity to carry. The Skyway Bridge down here is the gateway to Tampa Bay. It's not a major hub for container vessels - but does accommodate a lot of cruise vessels - which have gotten huge and pass *just under* the newest span of the Skyway. I've been on a cruise out of Tampa and was amazed when I saw how close the top of the vessel was to the bridge when passing under. It was a matter of feet. In my neck of the woods, the bridges to up to accommodate height. It's the width that is sketchy. Very sketchy. Add no wiggle room on width plus the angle for these things to be under two bridges at once and I'm just simply awestruck to see these ships get through without hitting anything over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneTwoSixFive Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 1 hour ago, Leader said: I've been on a cruise out of Tampa and was amazed when I saw how close the top of the vessel was to the bridge when passing under. It was a matter of feet. Going along the Llangollen canal in a 6 berth canal boat, there is a tunnel so long you lie down on the roof of the boat and 'walk along the ceiling' to get the boat through Llangollen town in Wales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leader Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 (edited) 6 hours ago, vegas492 said: In my neck of the woods, the bridges to up to accommodate height. It's the width that is sketchy. Very sketchy. Add no wiggle room on width plus the angle for these things to be under two bridges at once and I'm just simply awestruck to see these ships get through without hitting anything over and over. Here ya go. Supports what I was saying earlier. I would think, given the volume of container ships serviced in Baltimore, they'd take the design changes of vessels into consideration when they replace the collapsed bridge. Edited March 26 by Leader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Packerraymond Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Well add the stomach flu to the list of my ailments. Man this March has been probably the toughest I've ever endured, just can't catch a break. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leader Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 2 hours ago, Packerraymond said: Well add the stomach flu to the list of my ailments. Man this March has been probably the toughest I've ever endured, just can't catch a break. Damn dude....shape it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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