On Tuesday morning a container ship crashed into the landmarked Francis Scott Key Bridge near the United States city of Baltimore, causing most of it to collapse.
What is Baltimore bridge?
- The Baltimore Bridge, known more simply as the Key Bridge, was opened on March 23, 1977. It was named for amateur poet Francis Scott Key in honor of a 19th-century Maryland poet who wrote the words for the US national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner.
- The bridge was 8,636 feet (2,632m) long and spanned the Patapsco River and Baltimore harbour. The river flows out into Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States.
- Main span of 1,200 feet (366 m) was the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world. It was the second-longest bridge in the Baltimore metropolitan area, after the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
- The Maryland Transportation Authority operated Key Bridge as a toll facility. The bridge was also part of the E-ZPass system and included two dedicated E-ZPass lanes in its toll plaza in both the northbound and southbound directions.
- The bridge is estimated to transport around 11.5 million vehicles annually.
What happen for bridge?
The Ship Dli:
The Singapore-flagged Dli ship, operated by Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. Synergy Group and was temporarily leased by container shipping giant Maersk, according to a Maersk statement. also stated that it was transporting cargo for Maersk clients.
The Incident:
According to the web the Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Video footage from the incident appears to show the bridge collapsing instantaneously after the container ship Dali hits one of its pillars. This happened at around 01:30 local time . the collision resulted in the bridge collapsing, causing damage and posing a risk to vehicular and maritime traffic.
The first fire department unit arrived on the scene and reported the complete collapse of the bridge at morning 01:50 am. Officials stated that “some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge” created unsafe and unstable situations, and emergency rescue crews were operating cautiously as a result. Additionally, they have accounted for all crew members, including the two pilots.
Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said at a mid-morning news conference that rescue teams were still looking for six people unaccounted for after the bridge collapse. He said all six were part of a construction crew that was filling potholes on the bridge at the time.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency, with city, state and federal teams converging at the scene.
**source from web
