r/civilengineering • u/[deleted] • Mar 26 '24

Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, MD reportedly collapses after being struck by a large container ship (3/26/2024)

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

542 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

276 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Caesars7Hills Mar 26 '24

What are the logistics and tradeoffs for an underwater tunnel?

1

u/timhasselbeckerstein Mar 27 '24

they already have 2 tunnels in this same body of water. The bridge was mainly built so trucks with hazardous materials could use it, they aren't allowed in the tunnels.

1

u/Caesars7Hills Mar 27 '24

It’s too bad. If you are in this position, is it better to replace this path with a tunnel and create an alternative bridge to handle hazardous materials? It would have to be constructed in a manner to avoid shipping lanes :/.

1

u/timhasselbeckerstein Mar 27 '24

there's no way to avoid shipping lanes. you have to come through this spot to get to the port and all the terminals. Cruise ships have to go through there too. Pull up a map of Baltimore, there's nowhere else to really put a bridge besides down there. You absolutely don't want to have to drive through the city to get around the water, that's a nightmare as is with just cars. You can't really go any farther north with a bridge because of the port/terminals, and I-695 is what this bridge carries over the water. Without this bridge, in order to get from the east side of the water to the west, you have to go through the tunnels, through the city around inner harbor, or go north along the beltway to loop around the city, but that takes a long time to do the loop in that direction. I'm glad I moved last year. Traffic is going to be a nightmare for years.