Comments by "GH1618" (@GH-oi2jf) on "Baltimore bridge collapse after massive cargo ship collision" video.

  1. There are tug boats. Tugs took the ship from its berth to the channel which is a straight path under the bridge and out of the harbor. From there it should be easy, but the ship had a propulsion problem.
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  2. But even when it was built, other bridges spanning ship channels had fenders to protect the main pylons. The Columbia River Bridge at Astoria is an exampke. This bridge had nothing.
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  3. I expect it is an economic issue. The Golden Gate bridge spans a wide, deep channel where it would be impractical to build a truss bridge. A truss bridge is a good solution at this location where the required span us shorter. The problem is that the pylons were not protected.
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  4. Not quite. The object is to prevent a ship from reaching the structure of the bridge and its supports. This is usually done by building large fenders around the footings of the pylons, which are designed to absorb the energy of an allision. This bridge had no such protection, so the ship easily struck a pylon.
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  5. That is the crux of the matter. There were no fenders at all around the pylons.
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  6. Yes, you can. It is done not by strengthening the bridge, but by constructing large, energy-absorbing fenders around the main pylons to deflect the ship and absorb the energy without letting the ship reach the pylon.
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  7. Modern cars have crumple zones, though. Bridges across ship channels need fenders around the main pylons which act like crumple zones.
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  8. You are missing nearly everything, because it has been reported that the ship lost power, hence steering. How the bridge was built is definitely a factor. It was built without fenders to protect the main pylons.
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  9. Baloney. We know how to build bridges. The problem here is that fenders were not built around the pylons for some reason.
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  10. There was a harbor pilot aboard the ship. The problem is, the ship lost power. It wasn't a matter of needing to be guided.
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  11. It was not going too fast. The video is faster than real time when showing the ship moving.
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  12. Even in the 1960s, bridge engineers were using fenders to protect the main bridge pylons from allision. See the Columbia River Bridge at Astoria for an example. This bridge had nothing.
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  13. That's the main problem.
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  14. It was not going especially fast.
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  15. Why wouldn't it be? It has no damage below the waterline.
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  16. Fenders are generally constructed out of timber, so they will absorb energy when struck. This bridge had no fenders at all, a foolish economy.
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  17. They didn't. They need a bridge engineer, not specifically a structural engineer.
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