Key Bridge

[BarryBobPosthole]

Us inland folk don’t have appreciation for these big mutha bridges that our more moist coastal cousins do. But we know what happens when they fail. We had a big one on I-40 over the Arkansas and Minnesota had a big one on the Mississippi. But those bridges ain’t anything compared to the coastal ones. The old Sunshine Skyway bridge from St Pete across the mouth of Tampa Bay to Sarasota was a big mofo that would give you the heebeegeebees because you could look down and see through the grates when you were on top. Been over it a ton and in some stormy weathers which was fun. The new Sunshine Skyway got built after the first one got knocked down by a ship. It dwarfs the old one. And I don’t think a ship will get near that bridge given how its protected now. I’ll bet the same thing happens here. Gotta be upgraded for big old ships and we ought to be looking for the next one before a barge/ship finds it first!

BKB

[Thumper]

Yeppers, the Sunshine Skyway is lots of fun when the wind blows! Actually, most of the bigger Florida bridges have wind gauges on them and they get shut down when sustained winds hit 40-mph.


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[DeputyDog]

I saw the video from the Key bridge collapse. That was unreal.

The “Mighty Mac” (Mackinac Bridge) has those grates too. Supposed to help with the wind. They shut it down too in high winds.

Every year on Labor Day they shut the bridge down and have the bridge walk where people walk the 5 mile span of the bridge.


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[Penguin]

A terrible thing to happen. As chaotic as the world is I suppose it's a miracle we don't have more of this kind of thing.

My dad set the iron on a couple bridges I drive over to work each day. One is over 700 foot high.... Makes a man think doesn't it?

Will

[Chicken Dinner]

My in-laws live very close to the bridge (maybe a mile or so) and can hear the fog horns at night from the port you can see in the background of some of the pics and videos. As a result, I’ve been over it 100’s of times. Amazing how fast that thing came down. Hard to think about the impact on the families of the workers who died.


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[DeputyDog]

I’m seeing a lot of conspiracy theories about it being a deliberate act. They are saying that the ship changed course and went right to the bridge and that wouldn’t be possible if it was adrift. The path they showed had it make a hard left and go back out towards the bridge. Do they not realize that the harbor is formed by the Patapsco River and it FLOWS OUT to the Chesapeake?


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[johnboy]

I think the real story here is not that a ship hit a bridge and it collapsed but that a major east coast port is now shut indefinitely. This will cause a huge problem for an already troubled transportation sector. Number one task right now should be clearing that shipping channel and getting goods moving again.

[Chicken Dinner]

I’m seeing a lot of conspiracy theories about it being a deliberate act. They are saying that the ship changed course and went right to the bridge and that wouldn’t be possible if it was adrift. The path they showed had it make a hard left and go back out towards the bridge. Do they not realize that the harbor is formed by the Patapsco River and it FLOWS OUT to the Chesapeake?


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It’s a tidal river there DD. Not sure which way the tide was running at that time.


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[Penguin]

This thing took five years to build.... 50 years ago when we were still decent at building things. Before the MBA and bureaucrat infestation became terminal.

Unless they cut all kinds of reg corners I doubt if it can be built now in 5 years even if they reuse the piers. Hell it would take most state DOTs a year to get the thing bidded on.

I guess we're about to see how much a hot potato can speed up the game of hide the sausage. 😊

[Big Muddy]

Dang, those yankees need to hire some of our Mississippi boys to rebuild that bridge.....after Hurricane Katrina, the 2.1 mile long Biloxi Bay Bridge was totally re-built in 26 months, and the 1.6 mile long Bay St. Louis Bridge was totally rebuilt in 21 months.

Heck, it only took those Cajuns 5 years to rebuild the 24 mile long twin-span Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.

[Penguin]

Maryland ain't Yankee.... But I ain't sure just what they are. Let's ask Hank. 😊

It's a daunting challenge for sure though. Only times I've ever seen a big project get rebuilt quickly is if some kind of emergency gets declared and they bypass a bunch of red tape.

And it ain't just the US either. I've been watching England with equal parts horror and dark humor as they have destroyed their own steel and concrete industries, cut themselves off economically from nations that still make such things... And then decided they would undertake a massive "green" build out for electricity that would require the largest consumption of steel and concrete since WW2.

It will never get built.

It would be truly funny if it weren't so tragic. Everyone seems to believe these kinds of things are built on the internet and powered by unicorn antler dust.

Will

[johnboy]

This is a test. The real challenge is not how fast the bridge can be rebuilt (gonna take years) but how fast the shipping channel can be reopened and the port made functional again. The bridge is immaterial at this point.

[Penguin]

Good point. Even accounting for the usual foolishness it should take more than a week or two. The final cleanup and salvage no more than a couple months.

Will