Baltimore ’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed at 01:27 am EDT ( 05:27 am UTC ) on March 26 . The Singapore - flag container shipDalicollided with one of the bridge ’s pillars leading to a catastrophic collapse of the whole structure . At the time , there were worker on the bridge and the Baltimore City Fire Department stated that atleast seven vehiclesfell into the water . At the time of writing the number of casualties is obscure .
The bridge , nominate after the author ofThe Star Spangled Banner , connected the two bank of the Patapsco River and was the third farsighted uninterrupted truss bridge in the world with a duet of 366 meter ( 1,200 human foot ) . Continuous truss bridge have been popular since the 19th century and like any span design have advantages and drawbacks .
Unlike cantilever bridges , which require a complex body part project horizontally from sturdy accompaniment , a truss bridgework is made of a superstructure of trusses – the unremarkably triangular units that allow for the dispersion and gap of the tension , compression , and stresses a bridge circuit is jump to have . In the font of a uninterrupted truss bridge circuit , the truss superstructure cover without flexible joint over three or more supports .
Content Warning : A live watercourse from the larboard of Baltimore immortalize the prostration of the bridge . Some looker might get it distressing .
The funding in this guinea pig was hit by an object carrying a destiny of momentum , destroy it . Without the support , the whole social structure became mad – the superstructure was no longer able to retain the weight of the bridge circuit .
“ The keep is a very , relatively , fragile body structure when you bet at it , it ’s a kind of trestle social structure with individual legs , ” Ian Firth , a structural engine driver and bridge graphic designer , toldBBC News . “ So , the bridge has collapsed simply as a result of this very large impact military group . ”
uninterrupted truss bridges are known to be statically undetermined – in structural mechanics that entail that even know all the forces and moments acting on the bridge in chemical equilibrium is not enough to determine the internal force and reaction of that structure . Computers have been instrumental in making these bridge more common , as they can considerably calculate the stress in the span .
" This is similar to the Sunshine Skyway tragedy in 1980 , ” Professor Joseph Schofer of Northwestern University said in an emailed comment . “ The Baltimore Key Bridge is vulnerable because of its pattern . It ’s a thinly protected support pylon on the cantilever arch bridge over Baltimore Harbor — the 15th busiest container porthole in the United States . Its flop is a total loss of an essential bridgework for motivate hazmat truck in the I-95 corridor . Other routes across the Baltimore Harbor are tunnels , where hazmat vehicles are disallow . The bridge requires a total rebuild , which will be a farseeing - term and expensive project . "
This is a developing news report .
