Baltimore Bridge Collapses
Francis Scott Key is the writer of the national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. An important figure in our nation’s history, it is only natural that he had a bridge named after him, located in Baltimore. Disaster struck at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, however, when at approximately 1:28 AM Eastern time on March 26th 2024 a container ship lost power and careened into one of the bridge’s supports at nine miles per hour, collapsing the entire thing.
Details
You can see the destructive effect of the crash in this video:
As a part of Interstate 695, the Francis Scott Key Bridge serviced well over 11 million vehicles every year. Fortunately, traffic guards on site were alerted by the ship‘s mayday signal, and they were able to prevent more people from driving onto the bridge, minimizing the number of people caught in the collapse down to about nine. As of the time of writing, the emergency responders are still searching for survivors.
The container ship was headed out for Sri Lanka and had only embarked approximately 45 minutes before it had run out of power. The bridge did not collapse due to dilapidation, as we often write about the importance of maintaining road infrastructure, but rather a series of tragic events unfolding one after the other.
Conclusion
Unlike previous infrastructure disasters that we have reported upon that had been repaired in record time, there is currently no timeline set for when the bridge will be back up and running.
Truckers traveling in the Baltimore area now must take detours on other bridges and highways; examples of which include the 895 and 95, both north of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Truckers working directly with the Port of Baltimore will have to plan for extensive detours until the bridge is back and open.
We will be sure to provide you with important news updates as this story unfolds. With the Port of Baltimore handling 52 million tons of cargo worth $80 billion in 2023, the Francis Scott Key Bridge hopefully can be replaced soon. Assuming the rate is steady, the collapse and resulting closure of the Port of Baltimore to container vessels will lead to over $200 million in redirected commerce every passing day.
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