Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which carries traffic on the Interstate 695 Baltimore Beltway, collapsed in the early morning hours of March 26 after a large container ship collided with one of its central steel pillars 8,636 feet long.
At least seven people were reported to be on the four-lane bridge at the time, including a construction crew performing concrete deck repairs for the Maryland Transportation Authority, which operates the toll bridge.
No details about the contractor or the nature of this work have been released.
According to the Baltimore Fire Department, two people were rescued, one of whom is in serious condition at an area hospital. The other person refused treatment. Sonar also detected the presence of several vehicles that fell into the 50-foot-deep Patapsco River, the department said.
The incident, currently under investigation by several federal and state agencies, occurred at 1:28 a.m. as the nearly 1,000-foot-long Singapore-flagged container ship “Dali” was leaving Baltimore Harbor en route to Sri Lanka .
Video of the incident suggests the ship was in the process of turning when it hit the pillars supporting the 1,200-foot arched main light, sending large parts of the structure crashing into the ship and water
“It’s too early to know how it happened,” state Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld told reporters at a morning news conference, adding that there were no signs of terrorism or any deliberate act.
Wiedefeld told CNN that the ship appeared to be off course before the impact and “obviously it should be in the main channel, which is under this main stretch.”
Synergy Marine Group, which owns the vessel, said in a statement that all crew members, including two pilots who were on board, have been accounted for and there are no reports of injuries among the crew.
Opened in 1977 after a five-year, $110 million construction effort, the steel arch-shaped continuous truss bridge is 8,636 feet long, ENR reported (click the third photo of the link for more details). It was the longest bridge in the metropolitan area and included the third longest main span of its type in the world. The structure was designed by Singstad, Kehart, November and Hurka. Superstructure contractor Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel Corp, fabricated the main truss and John F. Beasley Construction Co. was the steel fitter for the project.
According to data from the state of Maryland, it carried more than 12.4 million commercial and passenger vehicles in 2023.
The collapsed bridge also blocks ship access to the Port of Baltimore, the nation’s 15th.th largest port in container tons handled, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Its public terminals handled 11.7 million tons of general cargo last year, according to data from the Maryland Port Authority, and 52.3 million tons of international cargo.
