The Baltimore Bridge Collapse: What Happened?
On March 26, 2024, at around 1 AM, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland collapsed due to a hit from a large cargo ship. The entire bridge collapsed immediately on impact, falling just like dominos. A major question that is still in the process of being answered is why did this happen?
First, let’s talk about the cargo ship. Apparently, the ship completely blacked out after its light’s flickered on and off multiple times. The blackout affected the navigation system and engine. Before the ship hit the bridge, the crew members made a mayday call. Fortunately, the call was able to go through fast enough, and cars were stopped before entering the bridge. Though the ship caused the ENTIRE bridge to collapse, there was apparently no structural issue prior to the crash. So, why did the entire bridge fall?
Well, unfortunately the ship hit one of the main support beams of the bridge. The Francis Scott Key Bridge is a truss bridge, meaning that the bridge is connected throughout. When the main support beam was hit, the rest of the bridge also felt the impact, causing it to collapse all together. This is one major downside to truss bridges. They cannot stand very heavy loads, let alone the impact of a large cargo ship.
If you have not seen the video of the bridge collapsing, here it is: https://youtu.be/2kw1hH5XCYU. This perfectly shows how the bridge fell immediately.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/us/key-bridge-collapse-baltimore-what-to-know.html
