How the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore should have been Protected

There has been a lot of misinformation put out that says that no bridge could be adequately protected from damage or destruction from impacts due to striking cargo ships or barges. This in absolutely untrue and I explain how this and other bridge should be protected such impacts.

Here is my free digital download of my guide to the biggest civil engineering disasters during the last 100 years.

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[finncarlbomholtsrensen]

In Denmark, with a lot of bridges to connect our many islands, we have a huge bridge over a major body of water, and in front of the two huge pillars we have made Islands below the water, so that ships will be grounded before hitting the pillars.

[Jacob-edbl]

Im a towboat captain of 28 years, and I primarily work in the port of Houston and lower/upper Mississippi River. Im obviously not an engineer, but 100% agree with you and that systems could've been put in place to prevent this and have been arguing that point with YouTube comment warriors that have absolutely no clue about the industry.

[JC-ytpm]

I do not have a copy of the Corp of Engineers publication Back to Basics in front of me. However I recall someplace in it saying we always seem to have the money and time to do it wrong multiple times but we never have the money and time to do it right once.

I am betting there are more then a few DOT, Public works and Port Authority people screaming we told them over and over again. I would also bet there is at least one new government building that cost about what protection would have cost for that bridge.

Its a crying shame and my condolences to the families who lost loved ones in this atrocity of negligence.

[jimw]

I know when I was young (I'm 73 now) in my technical construction field, the older folks retiring at that time were concerned about how we would perform without the backgrounds they had developed and rightly so. However, when I retired (I actually left the workforce early at 59 years old) I knew the people selected to take my position were not replacing me. They were not trained, nor did they have the technical degreed education that I had when I came into my industry. The industry culture and technology had changed to the point of not requiring degreed engineers anymore at the field-office level to conduct business. The answers were all in "the company computer" and it was to be followed to the letter, no questions asked. It had become a vastly changed working world and still is. The only missing element is the inclusion of knowledgeable, responsible people in positions that can affect action to overt the predictable results we see from this accident and many others like it. I am happy to be retired.

[refede]

Ponte Pietra is a Roman bridge that spans the Adige River in Verona, Italy. It was built in the 1st century AD and is one of the oldest bridges in the world. On April 24, 1945, during the retreat in Northern Italy, the German army mined and exploded three of its five arches. The explosion caused the structure to lift up and then fall back down, miraculously remaining intact. Ponte Pietra is still in use.

[larrybelken]

I was an engineer who worked on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge reconstruction project and was totally amazed by the inadequate pier protection of the Key Bridge. Dolphins and Fenders at the Sunshine Skyway were used to protect the main bridge piers and the piers themselves were built to take heavy hits if needed. I am amazed at the lack of these same protectors not being used on the Key Bridge. There is plenty of shame to be spread around. Dolphins and Fenders are not cheap but need to be implemented on all such vulnerable bridges and other marine structures. What a shame that this has had to happen 45 years after the Sunshine Bridge disaster. The piers reinforcement and dolphins will stop any maritime disaster at the Sunshine Skyway. Lessons that should have been learned a long time ago.

[jacobburesh]

I'm glad you mention the "experience gap". As a younger engineer myself, I try my best to learn from the more experienced folks in hopes of not repeating any of the mistakes/lessons they've learned. Sometimes it's hard to tow the line between "why did you do it this way" and "tell me everything you know". But I really appreciate when others are willing to teach/explain why/how they do things, I have a lot of respect for them. great video

[BrockMcLellan]

I am a retired Norwegian prison teacher. Periodically, In my working career, would be asked to teach merchant marine deck officers in training, who had been sentenced to prison. These students could ask to be taught anything in their curriculum, however, most often it involved ship stability calculations. Looking at their textbook the first time, I could understand why. It did not contain any guidance about how to solve the problems found at the end of the book. These were followed by a facit/ answer. My main job was to research then solve the problems. After that, I used the problems to teach about ship stability, then made up additional problems for the students to answer.

To put this in the perspective of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. People are not learning how to solve the problems they will face in their future careers.

[lindacolaprete]

Good job. I agree with you 100%. I'm a retired engineer and no I did not feel that the younger people I was leaving behind when I retired had a good grasp on what it was all about. The company is now defunct! Ed C

[maesailor]

Thank you, that was the best explanation I've seen on the Francis Scott Key bridge. Your visuals were excellent in helping me understand what happened.

[wizardm]

Thank you for making this clear.
I'm a retired german engineer and I was involved in securing some existing bridges in Europe with collision protection, most in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. The water depth at the bridge in Baltimore is only 50 feet. I dont understand why the pillars were not protected. This could have been retrofitted at any time.
I also heard the last days many comments that it is impossible to protect such a bridge against an impact of an vessel like this.
I don't know where this nonsense comes from. The hull of a ship is ductile . The protection has two main tasks here. Let the ships hull absorb most of the impact energy and keep it in a secure distance.
It is possible and proven. I consider it negligent that this bridge was not protected. Such accidents are not very rare. It's not so much a question of whether it will happen at some point, but when.
This disaster was completely unnecessary. I think that, as often, the costs have been avoided and it will now be much much more expensive. Not to mention the victims killed by this accident.

[peterscott]

Great video. Please continue to give your insight on these important matters. 👍

[frankhobsonKJCDM]

A former linehandler deckhand. I have seen up close what a loaded ship bump bumpers. Scary. A heavy dolphin or concrete abutment would have stopped / deflected ship before bridge damage.

[andrewjackson]

It's painfully obvious that they didn't protect the bridge when you can see how beefy the protection for those nearby high voltage line towers are so big.

[JohnSitton-ubnv]

The State of Maryland decided NOT to install collison protection, it was too expensive.

[nnelg]

I don't think this is Tofu-Dreg construction. The difference is that this is just old infrastructure that needs upgrading, while Tofu-Dreg starts crumbling even before the paint dries.

[SuperDave_BR]

'thinking' has been uncommon for many, many decades now. the biggest thing i've seen in the utility realm is lack of training and mentoring.

another great video Casey, i sure like them mucho.

[Oldman]

I am a retired structural aerospace engineer and I completely agree with you that 1.) this accident was completely preventable and foreseeable. It is just common sense to include concrete islands and boulders as a buffer. Additionally you can angle the protective barriers to deflect the energy away from the pylons. Why do you think the land bridge pylons have those yellow barrels? 2.) Before I retired I also noticed that many young engineers were relying too much on computer results and not asking basic questions like “Does this result make sense?”

It also upsets me that Maryland corrupt government officials will benefit from their incompetence by allowing this tragedy to happen so that the federal government will come and help bail them out and pay for this repair.

[jackpalczynski]

Very interesting. Although an electrical engineer, I find these civil engineering topics very interesting to watch. Great job on all your videos.

[TonboIV]

Anyone looking at the post accident pictures can see that the ship stopped very quickly after striking the bridge pier, so it's pretty obvious that it is _very_ possible to build a structure in front of the pier which can stop even large ships. The people claiming it isn't aren't even doing the most cursory thinking about it.