BREAKING: Heavy bridge collapses in Baltimore; A big portion of the bridge fell into the Patapsco River after the ship moved away from its help columns.

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The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland collapsed Tuesday morning after being struck by a ship and breaking a support column. The Key Bridge is a major commuter route carrying I-695 over the Patapsco River at the southern end of Baltimore Harbor. There is no official report of casualties till the time of writing. There are unconfirmed reports of several cars missing in the water as well as construction workers.


Key Bridge, photo via Maryland Transportation Authority.

Screen images from the Port Camera livestream show the moment of impact and the aftermath of the collapse:

Photos and videos posted early Tuesday showed extensive damage. A copy of security camera video time printed on March 26 at 1:28 a.m. EDT shows a ship striking a support column, collapsing the suspension bridge within seconds:

Another scene from the copied video (language warning):

Result:

https://twitter.com/thelandofvince/status/1772506241580814466

picture:

Live video of recovery efforts (scroll to 1:25 am to see the ship approaching the bridge and scroll to 1:28 am to see the collision and collapse):

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) posted that he was heading to the crash web site, “I’m conscious of the incident on the Key Bridge and am on my manner. I've been involved with @BaltimoreFire Chief Wallace, @GovWesMoore @JohnnyOJr, and @AACoExec. “Emergency personnel are on the scene and efforts are underway.”

Background on the Key Bridge by way of Maryland Transportation Authority:

This outer crossing of Baltimore Harbor opened in March 1977 because the final hyperlink in I-695 (Baltimore Beltway). The 1.6-mile Key Bridge crosses the Patapsco River the place Francis Scott Key was impressed to write down the phrases of the Star Spangled Banner. The ability additionally contains the Curtis Creek Drawbridge. Together with the bridge and strategy roadways, the size of the power is roughly 10.9 miles.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in March 1977 and is known as after the creator of the Star Spangled Banner. The bridge is the outermost of three toll crossings within the Harbor of Baltimore. Upon completion, the bridge construction and its approaches grew to become the ultimate hyperlink in Interstate 695 (Baltimore Beltway).

By the early Sixties, the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (Interstate 895), the primary crossing of Baltimore's Harbor, had reached its site visitors capability, and motorists encountered heavy congestion and delays nearly day by day throughout rush hours. Was. The State Highway Fee, the predecessor of the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA), concluded {that a} second harbor crossing was wanted and started planning a single-tube tunnel underneath the Patapsco River downstream from the Harbor Tunnel. The proposed web site was between Hawkins Level and Sollars Level. Planning was additionally underway for a drawbridge over Curtis Creek to attach Hawkins Level to Sollars Level.

Within the spring of 1969 contractors started boring the underside of the harbor. Bids for development of the proposed tunnel had been opened on 30 July 1970, however the worth gives considerably exceeded engineering estimates. Officers drafted different plans, together with the idea of a four-lane bridge.

This bridge, with an estimated value of $110 million, was the most suitable choice because it allowed extra site visitors lanes and carried decrease working and upkeep prices than a tunnel. As well as, a bridge would offer a route throughout Baltimore Harbor for autos transporting hazardous supplies (these supplies are banned from each the Baltimore Harbor and Fort McHenry (Interstate 95) tunnels).

Building of the Francis Scott Key Bridge started in 1972 and the bridge was opened to site visitors on March 23, 1977. Together with its connecting approaches, the bridge challenge is 10.9 miles in size. Different buildings alongside the Thruway embrace a .64-mile dual-span drawbridge over Curtis Creek and two .74-mile parallel bridge buildings that carry site visitors over Bear Creek, close to Bethlehem Metal's Sparrows Level plant.

Key Bridge is situated in an space wealthy in American historical past. Students consider the span is inside 100 yards of the spot the place Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry on the night of September 12, 1814. That battle impressed Key to write down the phrases of the Star Spangled Banner.

Simply southeast of the bridge are the ruins of Fort Carroll, a 3.4-acre man-made island. The construction was designed by then-Brevet-Colonel Robert E. Lee and named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Building of the fort started in 1848 underneath the supervision of U.S. Military Corps of Engineers Brevet-Colonel Lee. Fort Carroll was important to the protection of Baltimore – previous to the development of the fort, the one army defensive construction between Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay was Fort McHenry.

The federal government deserted the fort as a army put up in 1920, and the island was declared surplus property in 1923. Nonetheless, the Struggle Division took no quick steps to promote the land. In Might 1958, a Baltimore legal professional bought the island for $10,000, however growth plans had been by no means accomplished. The fort is now abandoned.

Together with the Fort McHenry and Baltimore Harbor Tunnels, the Francis Scott Key Bridge is a part of a community of Baltimore Harbor crossings that present handy and protected transportation for native and interstate site visitors.

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