The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has Collapsed

Re:The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has C... by WarOnPrivacy on Tuesday March 26, 2024 @09:39AM (#39827678)

> the replacement bridge was built with a series of "structural dolphins" and concrete barriers to protect against ship strikes.

Given how the Skyway collapse is burned into the local consciousness, I suspect some of the benefit comes from their visibility.

I truly don't know how the dolphins would fair against a massive ship strike but I can imagine them doing their job.

(ship passing): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FPgQhy2X0AE8yw1.jpg

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Re:The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has C... by tomatotomato37 on Tuesday March 26, 2024 @10:19AM (#39828161)

I would also add those barriers seem to depend on the ship staying intact during collision. Given the immense inertia involved on the bigger ships I could just as easily see a scenario where the barrier ends up ripping through the lower hull while the rest of the ship continues forward.

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Re:The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has C... by krisoft on Tuesday March 26, 2024 @02:58PM (#39831509)

> easily see a scenario where the barrier ends up ripping through the lower hull while the rest of the ship continues forward

I don’t think that is likely? My intuition is that in order to stay seaworthy ships are constructed with more integrity than that.

I don’t have any hard evidence though, just that I have looked at many ship collision/allision aftermath photos and what you describe is not a failure mode I have seen so far.

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Re:The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland Has C... by semireg on Tuesday March 26, 2024 @04:07PM (#39832247)