The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland collapsed early Tuesday morning after a ship collided with and took out a help column. The Key Bridge is a significant commuter route carrying I-695 over the Patapsco River on the southern finish of the Baltimore Harbor. There aren’t any official reviews on casualties as of this writing. There are unconfirmed reviews of a number of vehicles within the water in addition to development staff unaccounted for.
Key Bridge, photograph through the Maryland Transportation Authority.
Display photographs from a port digital camera livestream present the second of affect and aftermath of the collapse:
Photographs and movies posted early Tuesday present what seems to be large harm. A replica of a safety digital camera video time stamped 1:28 a.m. EDT on March 26 reveals a ship hitting a help column, collapsing in simply seconds the central half with the metal arch-shaped truss. The Key Bridge was reported to have been the third longest continuous truss bridge in the world.
BREAKING NEWS
Maryland Keybridge collapsed after cargo ship collides with help beam pic.twitter.com/9IgvJyi46Y— Hayward Jablomi (@HaywerdJablomi) March 26, 2024
One other view from copied video (language warning):
— Joe Bradley (@JoeBradleyEMT92) March 26, 2024
Aftermath:
https://twitter.com/thelandofvince/standing/1772506241580814466
Photograph:
A container ship has struck the Key Bridge in Baltimore. A part of the bridge has collapsed. A number of hearth and police boats are on the way in which. pic.twitter.com/D6o04271k7
— Andrew Doyle (@doyle0213) March 26, 2024
Reside video of restoration efforts (scroll again to 1:25 a.m. to see the ship approaching the bridge and 1:28 a.m. to see the collision and collapse):
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D)) posted he’s heading to the accident scene, “I’m aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge. I have been in contact with @BaltimoreFire Chief Wallace, @GovWesMoore @JohnnyOJr, and @AACoExec. Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway.”
I am conscious of and en path to the incident on the Key Bridge. I’ve been in touch with @BaltimoreFire Chief Wallace, @GovWesMoore @JohnnyOJr, and @AACoExec. Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway.
— Brandon M. Scott (@MayorBMScott) March 26, 2024
Unbiased reporter Dave Statter reviews the the ship was a cargo ship from Singapore, “Key Bridge Update 4: Here is more on the container ship that struck the Francis Scott Keys Bridge via Vessel Finder. The Dali is out of Singapore.”
Key Bridge Replace 4: Right here is extra on the container ship that struck the Francis Scott Keys Bridge through Vessel Finder. The Dali is out of Singapore. https://t.co/ZD6mCpsLLf https://t.co/ecPk09QIBw pic.twitter.com/c9bDbUD7PU
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) March 26, 2024
Background on the Key Bridge via the Maryland Transportation Authority:
This outer crossing of the Baltimore Harbor opened in March 1977 as the ultimate hyperlink in I-695 (the Baltimore Beltway). The 1.6 mile Key Bridge crosses over the Patapsco River the place Francis Scott Key was impressed to put in writing the phrases of the Star Spangled Banner. This facility additionally consists of the Curtis Creek Drawbridge. Together with the bridge and method roadways, the ability is roughly 10.9 miles in size.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in March 1977 and is known as for the writer of the Star Spangled Banner. The bridge is the outermost of three toll crossings of Baltimore’s Harbor. Upon completion, the bridge construction and its approaches turned the ultimate hyperlinks in Interstate 695 (the Baltimore Beltway).
By the early Nineteen Sixties, the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (Interstate 895), the primary crossing of Baltimore’s Harbor, had reached its site visitors capability, and motorists encountered heavy congestion and delays nearly day by day throughout rush hours. The State Roads Fee, predecessor of the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA), concluded there was a necessity for a second harbor crossing and commenced planning a single-tube tunnel beneath the Patapsco River, downstream from the Harbor Tunnel. The proposed website was between Hawkins Level and Sollers Level. Plans additionally had been underway for a drawbridge over Curtis Creek to attach Hawkins Level to Sollers Level.
Contractors took borings of the harbor backside within the spring of 1969. Bids for development of the proposed tunnel had been opened on July 30, 1970, however value proposals had been considerably increased than the engineering estimates. Officers drafted various plans, together with the idea of a four-lane bridge.
The bridge, at an estimated price of $110 million, represented the most effective various as a result of it allowed for extra site visitors lanes and carried decrease working and upkeep prices than a tunnel. As well as, a bridge would offer a route throughout the Baltimore Harbor for automobiles transporting hazardous supplies (these supplies are prohibited from each the Baltimore Harbor and Fort McHenry [Interstate 95] tunnels).
Development on the Francis Scott Key Bridge started in 1972, and the bridge opened to site visitors on March 23, 1977. Together with its connecting approaches, the bridge venture is 10.9 miles in size. Different buildings alongside the thruway embody a .64-mile dual-span drawbridge over Curtis Creek and two .74-mile parallel bridge buildings that carry site visitors over Bear Creek, close to Bethlehem Metal’s Sparrows Level plant.
The Key Bridge is situated in an space wealthy with American historical past. Students imagine the span crosses inside 100 yards of the positioning the place Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry on the night of Sept. 12, 1814. That battle impressed Key to put in writing the phrases of the Star Spangled Banner.
Positioned simply southeast of the bridge are the ruins of Fort Carroll, a 3.4-acre man-made island. The construction was designed by then Brevet-Colonel Robert E. Lee and named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Development of the fort started in 1848, beneath the supervision of Brevet-Colonel Lee, U.S. Military Corps of Engineers. Fort Carroll was vital for the protection of Baltimore — earlier than the fort was created, the one army defensive construction between Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay was Fort McHenry.
The federal government deserted the fort as a army put up in 1920, and the island was declared extra property in 1923. Nevertheless, the Struggle Division took no instant steps to promote the land. In Could 1958, a Baltimore lawyer bought the island for $10,000, however growth plans by no means materialized. The fort now could be abandoned.
Together with the Fort McHenry and Baltimore Harbor Tunnels, the Francis Scott Key Bridge is a part of a community of Baltimore Harbor crossings that gives handy and protected transportation for native and interstate site visitors.
