TexLil
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- Oct 26, 2017
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I thought of this near-disaster. TL : DR - a bridge inspector found a large crack on the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River near Memphis, and called 911 to have the bridge shut down, even before calling his supervisor.I first thought of the Big Bayou Canot railway bridge disaster.
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Big Bayou Canot rail accident - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Though that one was down to human error and flawed bridge design.
The lights going on and off makes me think this was a mechanical failure, possibly with an electrical fire. I do hope that it wasn't completely avoidable.
MOO
Bigger than a football field, or even a stadium! I heard this ship was about 1,000 feet long (ca. 333 yards).The bridge stood strong for 50 years. At the time it was constructed the average cargo ship was 1530 TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) and now the ships have grown 1500% to 24000 TEU (twenty foot equivalent).
I'm thinking as large a high school football stadium floating on water? I'm surprised the amount of metal falling on the ship did not capsize it as well. The almost immediate and complete collapse is still unbelievable...one minute, clear night, the iconic bridge silhouette, beautiful sparkling lights reflecting on the water....and then gone.
Maritime infographic: 50 years container ship growth | MaritimeCyprus
maritimecyprus.com
“It’s a sound bridge design and had been used in other locations,” Schafer said, noting “there’s no indications of problems with it over time.”The bridge stood strong for 50 years. At the time it was constructed the average cargo ship was 1530 TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) and now the ships have grown 1500% to 24000 TEU (twenty foot equivalent).
I'm thinking as large a high school football stadium floating on water? I'm surprised the amount of metal falling on the ship did not capsize it as well. The almost immediate and complete collapse is still unbelievable...one minute, clear night, the iconic bridge silhouette, beautiful sparkling lights reflecting on the water....and then gone.
Maritime infographic: 50 years container ship growth | MaritimeCyprus
maritimecyprus.com
I thought of this near-disaster. TL : DR - a bridge inspector found a large crack on the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River near Memphis, and called 911 to have the bridge shut down, even before calling his supervisor.
![]()
How authorities missed the flaw that nearly brought down the I-40 bridge
An in-depth analysis found repeated opportunities were missed over several decades to find a "fracture critical" flaw on the Mississippi River bridge.www.ualrpublicradio.org
There was an I-40 bridge in Oklahoma that wasn't so lucky, in 2002, though there was no previous structural weakness or failure:I thought of this near-disaster. TL : DR - a bridge inspector found a large crack on the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River near Memphis, and called 911 to have the bridge shut down, even before calling his supervisor.
![]()
How authorities missed the flaw that nearly brought down the I-40 bridge
An in-depth analysis found repeated opportunities were missed over several decades to find a "fracture critical" flaw on the Mississippi River bridge.www.ualrpublicradio.org
![]()
I-40 bridge disaster - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Campos is correct -- from the scanner, we know this collapse happened in less than 2 minutes. I don't think anybody expected the May Day call would result in the loss of the bridge-- instead, they knew to stop the traffic from entering the bridge but believed the Contractor only needed to get off the bridge for maybe an hour or two and could return to resume their work. Sorry for the families and also Mr. Campos.Campos said he doesn’t believe the workers could have been evacuated.
“It happened in the blink of an eye… It couldn’t be done,” he said.
“It’s a sound bridge design and had been used in other locations,” Schafer said, noting “there’s no indications of problems with it over time.”
The massive container ship, which can hold 130,000 tons of cargo and supplies, simply overwhelmed the bridge’s protective measures.
“Container ships have changed a lot since the 1970s. They’re bigger and bigger and bigger. When you see the images now, the container ship is as wide as the bridge was tall,” Schafer said.
“Certainly, I do think if we’re going to have lessons learned, it’s going to be around that kind of port maintenance and the way we handle getting the ships in and out when it’s going through critical infrastructure like this,” the professor added.
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Why the Baltimore Key Bridge crumbled so spectacularly after it was hit by cargo ship
Ben Schafer, a structural engineering professor at Johns Hopkins University, said that he doesn’t believe most bridges would have withstood the impact of a modern cargo ship.nypost.com
Very sad but inevitable - I hope the bodies can be recovered ASAP
James Mercante. (posting this for the benefit of future forum searches)Fascinating interview (CBS news video) and discussion is with a very experienced atty in maritime issues and an advisor at other harbors, James McCanty ("phonetic" spelling of his last name...prolly spelled differently) But, I digress...he had an interesting tidbit on what "should or has been done when ships lose power/steering/thrust etc and he says/implies "immediately dropping anchors" could have slowed down the ship. But is reserving final conclusion until "black box-type" recording of actual events is retrieved and examined. (New York board of pilot commissioners etc...very knowledgable man.)
His interview is intriguing, nonetheless.
Wouldn't it have to be the pilot in command, the Harbor Pilot? That would be the person best-versed in how to contact emergency services and the Coast Guard.Does anyone know if it was the harbor pilots who were on board who initiated the mayday call, or was it the ship’s crew? Just curious.
I'm sure it was the Pilot or the Captain:Does anyone know if it was the harbor pilots who were on board who initiated the mayday call, or was it the ship’s crew? Just curious.
^^rsbm“The pilot was directing navigation of the ship as it happened,” he said. “He asked the captain to get the engines back online. They weren’t able to do that, so the pilot took all the action he could. He tried to steer, to keep the ship in the channel. He also dropped the ship’s anchor to slow the ship and guide the direction.
At that point, according to Diamond, the pilot did “everything that he could have done” to both slow the ship down and keep it from drifting to the right, toward the bridge.“Just minutes before the bridge, there was a total blackout on the ship, meaning that the ship lost engine power and electrical power, it was a complete blackout,” Diamond told CNN.