Wow, finally I agree with you on something. There are more nut-bad conspiracy theorists out there to fix all of the containers on the Dali. I've been over the new Tappenzee bridge plenty of times. Pretty cool bridge. IIRC, the old one wouldn't go down w/o a fight. There was a conspiracy theory about the rivets on the new bridge being substandard. We have cargo ships go by our camp in the 1000 Islands all the time. The St. Lawrence Seaway. Inevitable one looses power or steering and runs aground in the Seaway maybe once a season. There never seems to be any damage, as they haven't hit a bridge. they mostly run aground somewhere. I can't recall if the main 1000 Islands Bridge to Wellesley Island has pier protection or not. edit: it looks like it doesn't, at least the main channel span where the ships navigate:
I'm sorta backing away from the Federal Government should pay for cleaning up the mess and building a new bridge. What I was thinking was that it should be a Federal, rather then a Maryland expense. I was thinking that the Dali's owners certainly have insurance, they probably wouldn't have enough to cover the cleanup and new bridge. I did a bit of reading this morning and found that they may in fact be able to cover the bill. Apparently big ship insurers pay into what is called a reinsurance pool. They do this for exactly what happened in Baltimore; a single insurance company might not be capable of paying the claim and remaining solvent. It is almost certain that the reinsurance pool will eventually pay the claim, but probably not until they have some idea about what the Key Bridge bill will be. My guess is that the Federal Government (that's us) will pay the bill initially, then be reimbursed by the insurance pool.
Yes that is the plan. The Fed gives money so things can get fixed ASAP. Insurance will eventually cough up the dough to repay the Feds but they take their sweet time.
That bridge was built in 1938. We stopped at the 75 year celebration back in 2013 on our way home from Wellesley Island camping. Drove the boat under it many times and also walked across it.
Took these pics today of bulk cargo/auto (I assme all are one ot the other) ships anchored south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge that were/are headed to the port of Baltimore. Might have to zoom in to see. I think one crane is on site & a couple more will be in the next day or so. Lots of those type resources in the area at least. Haven't heard anything about whether they'll have to unloaded the ship in place but I suspect so.
A post from a reputable source says the tugs usually stop assisting after the turn because it is difficult for them to keep up with the big ships. Max speed on a tug is about 15 knots. They are designed to push/pull at low speeds, like a tractor. Given the routine nature of the departure they stood down after the turn. FYI - The Dali draws 49 feet - the channel is 50 feet.
Well worth watching. You don't have to be a civil engineer to realize the government "will let you down".
The last line is true - sorta. The Dali draws 49 feet at maximum gross weight. It was carrying about half of the number of containers of which it is capable, so it wouldn't be drawing close to that much. Having one foot of water under the keel would be seriously hazardous (as the captain of the Queen Elizabeth 2 found out off the coast of Massachusetts in 1992). In shallow water, as a big ship gains speed it will "squat" in the water if the water is shallow.
"It was carrying about half of the number of containers of which it is capable" - Wow - It looks full! Amazing stuff!
True, but the ship wasn't near that speed. I realize this is a stupid Monday morning quarterbacking exercise. Still this is a big disaster... RIP to the workers who couldn't escape the bridge.
Why is everyone mentioning the road workers and not saying a word about the people in the vehicles that are trapped in their vehicles under water and under the bridge remnants?? The workers weren't the only ones who perished from what I understand..
Quick word problem (which, admittedly, many of us hate): The police closed the Francis Scott Key Bridge minutes before it collapsed, so there was no traffic on the bridge. The only vehicles were those driven by evacuating construction workers. A total of six people died. Six of them were construction workers. How many of the people who died weren't construction workers? Discuss!
I'm taking this with a grain of sarcasm as I enjoy a good conspiracy theory. This incident is far from meeting that threshold. Joshua sounds a little like my sister in law, whom I do love. She's is full of stuff like this, some of which I have fun debunking. R I P to the road workers who lost their lives.
Max capacity is a bit more then 9,900 (!) containers. The Dali had around 4,800 on board. When Hyundai built the Dali, there were also a couple of "sister" ships. The bridge of the Dali was moved a bit forward from the others to allow the maximum number of containers to increase from about 9,600 to the current 9,900+.
