{"id":2251420,"date":"2024-05-23T16:30:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T20:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/baltimore-bridge-collapse-warnings-issued-years-ago\/"},"modified":"2024-05-23T16:35:02","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T20:35:02","slug":"baltimore-bridge-collapse-warnings-issued-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/baltimore-bridge-collapse-warnings-issued-years-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"Warnings of Baltimore bridge collapse issued years prior"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbaltimore-bridge-collapse-warnings-issued-years-ago%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2251420&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A maritime safety committee warned for \u200b20 years about\u200d the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hillary-clinton-blasts-biden-for-decision-to-pull-troops-from-afghanistan\/\" title=\"Hillary Clinton Blasts Biden For Decision To Pull Troops From Afghanistan\">potential collapse<\/a> \u2064of Baltimore&#8217;s\u200b Francis Scott Key Bridge due to large vessel collisions. Despite these \u2062alerts, largely disregarded by authorities, the recent collapse \u200cresulted in tragic consequences, with a cargo ship causing the bridge&#8217;s downfall and claiming the lives of six construction \u2063workers. The incident underscores the urgent \u200bneed to address infrastructure vulnerabilities.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A maritime safety committee spent two decades warning of the possibility of a catastrophic\u00a0\u201ccollapse\u201d of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/baltimore\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Francis Scott Key Bridge\">Baltimore\u2019s<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/francis-scott-key-bridge-collapse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Francis Scott Key Bridge\">Francis Scott Key Bridge<\/a>, adding that it was \u201cnot designed to withstand collisions from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/death-on-the-high-seas\/\" title=\"Death on the High Seas\">large vessels<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Warnings from the committee, which included experts from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-soross-secret-network-used-ukraine-to-cover-for-hillary-hunter-and-target-donald-trump\/\" title=\"How Soros\u2019s Secret Network Used Ukraine to Cover for Hillary, Hunter, and Target Donald Trump\">key government agencies<\/a>, largely fell on deaf ears, a new report claimed Thursday.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lay on top of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-of-egypt-sends-hopeful-message-to-the-world-as-traffic-resumes-through-suez-canal\/\" title=\"President of Egypt sends hopeful message to the world as traffic resumes through Suez Canal\">container ship<\/a> Dali, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo\/Julia Nikhinson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A ship could lose power \u201cin close vicinity to a bridge,\u201d and an out-of-control vessel could cause \u201ca <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prosecutors-pursue-grand-jury-probe-into-partial-collapse\/\" title=\"Prosecutors pursue grand jury probe into partial collapse\">bridge collapse<\/a>,\u201d were some of the warnings in previously unreported records obtained by the<em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/investigations\/2024\/05\/23\/key-bridge-warnings-ship-strikes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Washington Post\">Washington Post<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>The <em>Dali<\/em>, a massive cargo ship heading to Sri Lanka, left the Port of Baltimore early on March 26 when it lost power and propulsion. The container ship, which had enough supplies on board for a monthlong\u00a0trip, crashed into one of the bridge\u2019s supporting columns, toppling the bridge and killing six construction workers. <\/p>\n<p>Federal investigators said earlier this month that a preliminary report showed the <em>Dali<\/em> had two electrical blackouts in the hours before it left port. <\/p>\n<p>U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Gautier told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee this month about the continuing vulnerability of the nation\u2019s infrastructure, adding that the colossal ships now coming in and out of the country\u2019s ports have raised the risk of other deadly collisions.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is time to more broadly understand these risks,\u201d Gautier said.<\/p>\n<p>When the <em>Dali<\/em> crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, federal, state, and local officials looked on in horror, describing the scene as a one-off and something that could not have been anticipated. However, the maritime safety group, known as the Baltimore Harbor Safety and Coordination Committee, had been sounding the alarm for years. <\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Tugboats escort the cargo ship Dali after it was refloated in Baltimore, Monday, May 20, 2024. (AP Photo\/Matt Rourke)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The group reportedly discussed both the Chesapeake Bay Bridge as well as the Baltimore bridge. Among the most vocal were Maryland pilots, who board large vessels and then guide them in and out of port. <\/p>\n<p>Meeting minutes were logged and circulated within the various agencies who had representatives on the committee, Frank Hamons, who was among the first members of the committee in 1980, said. Hamons, a dredging manager for the Maryland Port Administration, chaired the committee until he retired in 2013. He said he wished he would have been even louder in his warning. However, when\u00a0top Maryland transportation officials were contacted by the outlet, they said they did not recall ever being briefed on the concerns. <\/p>\n<p>Experts have disagreed about whether anything could have saved the Baltimore bridge given the <em>Dali\u2019s<\/em> massive size and speed at the time it crashed. However, most have agreed that more protections need to be in place given the risk by container ships like the <em>Dali<\/em>, which regularly use East Coast ports to deliver goods. <\/p>\n<p>What is known is that a ship-collision protection system can be costly \u2014 but might be worth it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER \">CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For example, a system for the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which stretches from Delaware to New Jersey, is projected to cost more than $90 million.<\/p>\n<p>The cost to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $2 billion. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For two decades, a maritime safety committee repeatedly alerted to the risk of a major collapse at Baltimore&#8217;s Francis Scott Key Bridge, stating it was not built to withstand large vessel impacts. Despite the warnings, largely ignored by government agencies, the bridge&#8217;s recent collapse highlights the consequences, as revealed in a new report released on Thursday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2646,"featured_media":2251421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/baltimore-ship-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2251420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/baltimore-ship-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2646"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2251420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2251421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2251420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2251420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2251420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}