JT driver heads towards collapsed Baltimore bridge

[PuddleJumper]

The worker that was hospitalized was released yesterday.

I live near the Key bridge and have driven on it more than 1000 times. If I have job sites in DC or Virginia, 9 times out of 10 I was crossing that bridge.

damn

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[Scott L]

I dont want to make light of the deceased but the subject of the title really got this out.

 

[Minty JL]

I dont want to make light of the deceased but the subject of the title really got this out.

Yeah a 1.6 mile span is not being jumped

 

[AyeCantSeeYou]

damn

Damn is right!

Like many out here, I spent most of Tuesday in shock over what happened. I'm usually up and out the door around 1:30 - 2am. It just so happens that my brickmason sub has avoided me the past few weeks on a project I have in DC. He called me yesterday morning to let me know he had been in Vegas the past week for March Madness and would be at the site today for takeoffs. If he had gotten back into town 2 days earlier ...

It's so eerie looking across the bay and not seeing the bridge there. I feel so bad for the families of the workers that were on the bridge. It's just so tragic all the way around - the ship's crew, the harbor pilot, the emergency crews, the first responding fireman (Baltimore City FD) that went to the foot of the bridge (This is after the ship made the MAYDAY call. The call initially came in as a vehicle went over the bridge) just to find the bridge gone - I heard the recording and there were several seconds of silence before he could even speak. He was in shock and could barely get the words out. Another responder got to the county side (Dundalk/Essex/Sparrows Point area) of the bridge and was repeating the words "The entire Key bridge has fallen into the harbor" as though he was trying to convince himself of what he was looking at.

 

[PuddleJumper]

Damn is right!

Like many out here, I spent most of Tuesday in shock over what happened. I'm usually up and out the door around 1:30 - 2am. It just so happens that my brickmason sub has avoided me the past few weeks on a project I have in DC. He called me yesterday morning to let me know he had been in Vegas the past week for March Madness and would be at the site today for takeoffs. If he had gotten back into town 2 days earlier ...

It's so eerie looking across the bay and not seeing the bridge there. I feel so bad for the families of the workers that were on the bridge. It's just so tragic all the way around - the ship's crew, the harbor pilot, the emergency crews, the first responding fireman (Baltimore City FD) that went to the foot of the bridge (This is after the ship made the MAYDAY call. The call initially came in as a vehicle went over the bridge) just to find the bridge gone - I heard the recording and there were several seconds of silence before he could even speak. He was in shock and could barely get the words out. Another responder got to the county side (Dundalk/Essex/Sparrows Point area) of the bridge and was repeating the words "The entire Key bridge has fallen into the harbor" as though he was trying to convince himself of what he was looking at.

Dude, glad your still here. Its still insane to think about.

 

[RubiAR]

I am in Law Enforcement. We see it all the time. "But I just live down the street!" "I have to get to work!" "You are just causing problems blocking this road!"

Oh the temptation to say, "You are right! Go ahead!"

Same in the fire department; I hated doing traffic and wished I could have put a pike pole in many of a tire.

 

[BourbonRunner]

Another Baltimore local here. (GO O's!)

The fact that this bridge is gone is mind boggling. From Catonsville you could see down to the bridge on a reasonably clear day. I've gone over it and under it on boats thousands of times.

My brother in law is a pilot for the Baltimore County PD. He posted these pics over the scene. I took the last one 2 weeks ago on a flight back from Iceland.

That being said, it did link the two epicenters of stupidity in our region- Northern Anne Arundel County and Dundalk so the drivers trying to pass the road blocks tracks.

 

[Minty JL]

Another Baltimore local here. (GO O's!)

The fact that this bridge is gone is mind boggling. From Catonsville you could see down to the bridge on a reasonably clear day. I've gone over it and under it on boats thousands of times.

My brother in law is a pilot for the Baltimore County PD. He posted these pics over the scene. I took the last one 2 weeks ago on a flight back from Iceland.

That being said, it did link the two epicenters of stupidity in our region- Northern Anne Arundel County and Dundalk so the drivers trying to past the road blocks the road tracks.

Thats crazy....great pics both good and bad.

I was in Orlando when this took place........I happened to wake up early and checked my news feeds and was like WTF

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Another Baltimore local here. (GO O's!)

The fact that this bridge is gone is mind boggling. From Catonsville you could see down to the bridge on a reasonably clear day. I've gone over it and under it on boats thousands of times.

My brother in law is a pilot for the Baltimore County PD. He posted these pics over the scene. I took the last one 2 weeks ago on a flight back from Iceland.

That being said, it did link the two epicenters of stupidity in our region- Northern Anne Arundel County and Dundalk so the drivers trying to pass the road blocks tracks.

Decades ago, the county where I lived had a sheriff who ordered the county maintainers and trucks to block entrances onto I35. It had become deadly after a huge blizzard. Rescue crews couldn't get to anyone, and were stretched thin as it was. It was literally impassable and anyone who tried was going to get stuck out there, likely die. So he ordered I35 in that county CLOSED.
Man there was a lynch mob forming - how dare you, you can't do that! This needs to cost him his job, his pension, anything else we can go after. He has NO RIGHT! I must be on that highway, he can't stop me.
And a few did go out there - and were stranded.
The fuss went on for weeks (if not longer) - he became hated by many, praised for his guts and forward thinking by first responders and others in similar lines.

And guess what the State of Iowa has since put up on I35 interstate entrance ramps in that area - barricades the state can close when I35 gets deadly like that again.

People wanted to strip him of his badge - but the state thought, hey, great idea!
I laughed when I first saw those barricades, permanently set up, ready to swing close and lock, after that big fiasco.

I guess you can't fix stupid - people believe they know better and how dare anyone else try to save their butts (not to mention save the lives of those rescue workers who have to take care of such fools)

My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the workers and those already there who could not have possibly known or been warned in time for an escape.

 

[Labswine]

Those river pilots are going to have nightmares for years about this. They did everything they could but were helpless to stop it, and could only watch everything happen in slow motion.

My Dad was a Delaware River Pilot (as was my Great Uncle, Grandfather, and Uncle) and Dad used to tell the story of an almost accident he had with a bridge in the Delaware River up river from Philly.

Dad was piloting a ship up the river coming up to a bridge which had opened for him when the ship totally lost power. Dad radioed the bridge to warn them (operators in a little shack to control the bridge to get ready to run if necessary) then ordered hard right rudder to hopefully put the ship in the mud to stop it but, the rudder didn't respond. Fortunately, Dad had the ship's captain make sure the anchors were manned when they got underway. With no rudder, Dad ordered them to drop the anchors. It worked out because he did have the time for the anchors to grab and stop the ship (this was the early 60's and ships were much smaller than that one that hit the Key bridge). Crisis avoided.

That night, when and Mom were sleeping, in the middle of the night, in his sleep, Dad yelled "HARD RIGHT", swung his arm and hit Mom squarely in the nose nearly breaking it...he said he did have night mares for a little while after that incident.

These Pilots are going to have it much worse because of the total destruction and loss of life. Plus, I read the news said there were two Pilots on board, the regular fully licensed Pilot and an Apprentice Pilot (learning the ropes as it were...Apprenticeships can go anywhere from 4 to 8 years in length).

 

[BourbonRunner]

Those river pilots are going to have nightmares for years about this. They did everything they could but were helpless to stop it, and could only watch everything happen in slow motion.

My Dad was a Delaware River Pilot (as was my Great Uncle, Grandfather, and Uncle) and Dad used to tell the story of an almost accident he had with a bridge in the Delaware River up river from Philly.

Dad was piloting a ship up the river coming up to a bridge which had opened for him when the ship totally lost power. Dad radioed the bridge to warn them (operators in a little shack to control the bridge to get ready to run if necessary) then ordered hard right rudder to hopefully put the ship in the mud to stop it but, the rudder didn't respond. Fortunately, Dad had the ship's captain make sure the anchors were manned when they got underway. With no rudder, Dad ordered them to drop the anchors. It worked out because he did have the time for the anchors to grab and stop the ship (this was the early 60's and ships were much smaller than that one that hit the Key bridge). Crisis avoided.

That night, when and Mom were sleeping, in the middle of the night, in his sleep, Dad yelled "HARD RIGHT", swung his arm and hit Mom squarely in the nose nearly breaking it...he said he did have night mares for a little while after that incident.

These Pilots are going to have it much worse because of the total destruction and loss of life. Plus, I read the news said there were two Pilots on board, the regular fully licensed Pilot and an Apprentice Pilot (learning the ropes as it were...Apprenticeships can go anywhere from 4 to 8 years in length).

You're right on all points. Those poor pilots are scarred for life, and ultimately though legally they're responsible for the vessel while underway, they cannot bear any actual responsibility for the disaster they were an unwitting party to- you can't control a 1000 foot ship with no power let alone a 15 foot Boston Whaler. You're entirely at the mercy of inertia, wind, and current, and the last two at that narrows are a bear. The Key Bridge frequently was closed for high winds, and the current through there can be very treacherous.

I have the utmost respect for the pilots. Spending my life fishing and boating up and down the Bay, I've watched them come on and off massive vessels while underway in all sorts of weather and wondered how the hell they climb those small ladders and ramps with such massive clanking brass balls.

 

[Labswine]

You're right on all points. Those poor pilots are scarred for life, and ultimately though legally they're responsible for the vessel while underway, they cannot bear any actual responsibility for the disaster they were an unwitting party to- you can't control a 1000 foot ship with no power let alone a 15 foot Boston Whaler. You're entirely at the mercy of inertia, wind, and current, and the last two at that narrows are a bear. The Key Bridge frequently was closed for high winds, and the current through there can be very treacherous.

I have the utmost respect for the pilots. Spending my life fishing and boating up and down the Bay, I've watched them come on and off massive vessels while underway in all sorts of weather and wondered how the hell they climb those small ladders and ramps with such massive clanking brass balls.

I know exactly how it is to climb up and down the sides of those ships. When I was a teenager, I would go to work with my Dad. We'd get on the ship in Philly (usually a simple gangway...stairs) then go down the Delaware and get off at Cape Henlopen which involved climbing down a rope ladder with wooden slats for the rungs to a pilot launch bobbing in the water below. Then, doing it again, boarding the ship at Cape Henlopen, going back up the Delaware Bay and river to somewhere along the ports either getting off at the dock with a gangway or, changing Pilots somewhere either because the ship was going further up river, or anchoring somewhere and having to climb back down that wood/rope ladder to a pilot launch. I LOVED it.

I so wanted to be a pilot like my Dad, Uncle, Grandfather, and Great Uncle but, I was born at the wrong time. When I was of age, they changed the requirements from just having a HS Diploma (like my Dad and ancestors) to requiring a 3rd mates license or a 4 year degree.

I went into the Navy as a Quartermaster to learn navigation and was stationed in Philly so I was actively navigating the Delaware while I was going to College working towards a BSc in Chemistry. They just weren't taking apprentices at the time. Then in 1988, the Pilots association suddenly realized that they were going to have a bunch of pilots retiring soon and needed to back fill those positions. So, by that point I was in the middle of my Sophomore year in college (doing it part time while working full time as a chemical technician, plus the military reserves) and had 7 years or so actively navigating the Delaware in both the Navy and the Army (yeah, the Army has more boats than the Navy has ships) so I applied. Had glowing recommendations from several naval officers as well as the familial connection. They took 3 apprentices that year. The association president's son (law degree), their first female pilot (she had a 3rd mates license), and their first African American pilot (again, 3rd mates license). I was 4th on the list out of 6 applicants. I was too old the next round of them looking for apprentices so I didn't get to fulfill my life long dream. Had a good career as a Chemist though...35 years of it.

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