• CraigeryTheKid@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    Given how “easily” the bridge fell… Why aren’t ships that size required to 100% be escorted by tugs???

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      At the risk of sounding too Clarke and Dawe, it is very rare that a ship loses power and control, and somewhere it could hit something important, and hits that thing, and the thing is apparently so fragile that it just falls to pieces. It’s been there for 46 years, and the Port of Baltimore currently sees an average of 53 ships in and out per month, so about 3.5 big ships under the bridge per day. That’s a lot of passages over the years without incident.

      • tal@lemmy.today
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        8 months ago

        and the thing is apparently so fragile that it just falls to pieces.

        I mean, it just got hit with a hundred thousand ton hammer. That’ll do a pretty good number on most structures, I imagine.

        • Liz@midwest.social
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          8 months ago

          For a structure that normally has these ships pass under it every day, it sure as hell should have had bollards to protect the piers against such an impact.