The Baltimore Bridge Disaster Was Avoidable

Construction fail: why the Francis Scott Key collapse should never have happened.
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[@TheB1M]

Try everything Brilliant has to offer for free for a full 30 days 👉 brilliant.org/TheB1M/

[@RussetPotato]

aspire to new heights aspire to build a spire!

[@wheely90]

monday upload!? what a great start to the week!

[@TheB1M]

You’re welcome 😉

[@nah95]

2:34 116,000 tons is the weight of what the ship can carry and not the weight of the actual ship. It's called Dead Weight Tonnage. The actual weight is the displacement which in this case was almost 149,000 tons.

[@atomosk9937]

Nothing like a Monday B1M upload to get the week started right

[@pacldawson]

I live near Baltimore Harbor, and when my wife asked what the new bridge design would look like, I said it should be a cable-stayed bridge... for the reasons you cover here in this video.

[@a-_-s]

11:02 pffft “lessons will have definitely been learned” oh how you underestimate our ability to avoid learning any lessons 😂

[@DavidRepp-f6d]

As a Marylander, great video as always with you guys ❤

[@amechanicalengineer4088]

The effect on traffic is definitely noticeable. The tunnels under the harbor get clogged up way more frequently and hazmat have to go all the way around the city on the other side of 695. Weird to see your house in a B1M video...

[@Rixynator]

I hope y'all know where Singapore is now

[@GeekyMedia]

lol what?

[@Rixynator]

@@GeekyMedia read more

[@ishtiaquealamin6147]

I like your explanation

[@gregboi183]

8:40 those estimates will undoubtedly double, this is civil contracting we're talking about

[@Redridge07]

The bridge was 47 years old, of course, it was avoidable. Silly title.

[@GTFF]

Sunshine skyway bridge is a good example of bridge protection while still being in deep water

[@willardSpirit]

I drove on it the day before it collapse to go home and the next morning it was gone. It was kind of surreal. Now the alternative routes are the two tunnels and the other side of the ring 695 highway. But it's already busy before with the Washington DC metro traffic. We definitely need better public transportation to relieve car dependency

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Maybe in another country...

[@CalgarGTX]

Or instead of wasting money on public transportation, build 2 better made ( or protected rather) bridges 🤡

[@markmartindale7215]

​@@CalgarGTX dumb

[@sjgrall]

Having been over that bridge many times over the years, and knowing the state Baltimore has been in even longer than I've been alive, it doesn't surprise me that such an incident was avoidable. Local leadership tends to fall into a pattern of corruption, and very little actually gets fixed, until a catastrophe occurs.

[@user2144]

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that your title is the understatement in engineering history. As a ship knocking into a support pillar, resulting in the bridge collapsing, was not supposed to happen.

[@badarkharismaputra5745]

that's why he's explained that island and more dolphins could have been added, and might be added to other unprotected bridges supports around the US

[@StopMediaFakery]

It wasn't avoidable because it was brought down on purpose.

[@gamm8939]

@@StopMediaFakery The fuck is that supposed to mean?

[@MrAbraxus666]

Spoken like someone who absolutely did not watch the video.

[@MrAbraxus666]

@@gamm8939 That a fair few Americans think the Universe is actively working to thwart the US of A.

[@samdekker90]

Next video's thumbnail: Water is Wet

[@thekrugle]

Bridge

[@krevo6c]

Weak. In the US you still need a ship to hit a bridge to collapse. Here in germany we can do that without needing one.

[@technikchaot]

But our bridge in Germany wasn't deadly while collapsing. It knew the tram schedule.

[@Titot182]

Ship happens!

[@lietkynes81]

Michel Virlogeux is a renowned structural engineer, bridge specialist. He helped design bridges such as the Millau Viaduct in France or the Yavuz Sultan Selim in Turkey. A sound choice for the Francis Scott Key bridge replacement!

[@XHappydudeX]

Just blame McNulty.

[@bigmountain7561]

We got fat and lazy and hoping that all of our outdated by at least 65 years old infrastructure just doesn’t come grinding to a halt. Most of this is caused by graft not only by the local state and federal agencies but just sheer stupidity. Just look for examples the last two major hurricanes Ian and Helene, oops and I forgot Debbie. Constant over development and failure to act until it’s over. Reacting instead of Pro Acting. And until this stops you are going to see a lot more of what is happening today. Oh well the propulsion system failed again, that vessel was not seaworthy but as usual where there’s money to be had…. It’s like please excuse my analogy “The Constant and Consistent Circle Jerk!! Great Videos!!! Thank You 🙏

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

I think no lessons will be learnt - by the politicians anyway. As the video says, while this bridge gets rebuilt, others get no money. With how Congress (doesn't) work nowadays, expect few to no bridges to be rebuilt before they crumble and collapse.

[@jeepfan75]

almost every accident is avoidable...people don't pay attention to what they're doing...that simple...

[@M1CK3YL33]

I think a mandatory policy of 2-3 tugs should be used to guide the huge ships through the bridge, as an added safe guard. Make the shipping companies pay the cost.

[@CalgarGTX]

A lot of things are avoidable... but the basic human mentality is to take the path of least resistance everywhere, and run around with your arm flailing about when things start exploding. We are only advanced monkeys at the end of the day. It takes a lot of strong arming and institutional knowledge built over a long time to get people to do things the proper way. This is the opposite of the modern society mindset where people want things here and now but never want to have to worry about the details or do the hard work in between. Another aspect is resistance to change which I find is getting more and more prevalent everywhere. Go try to tell someone this bridge has done its useful lifespan, but it's now an accident waiting to happen, maybe it's time to tear it down and rebuild a better one for xyz money and the universal reaction is gonna be 'ahah no.' without any consideration to the objective merits of the proposal. The most bizarre thing about this accident, is it had an extremely low chance to happen if any of the series of events on the ship had happened slightly differently and a slightly different time. A few minutes apart it would had been stopped before reaching it or lost power right after clearing it... But on the other hand it took the bridge down at 2M on a day where police was already present nearby to close it off due to contractors presently doing maintenance on it at that particular time. Had it happened at rush hour, wow it would had been a very different story... they would still be fishing vehicles out for years...

[@fredcraven1699]

The Francis Scott Key bridge was rusted as a mother, That cargo ship was fully stacked Could have taken out a healthy bridge

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

That bridge was a cheap old rustbucket, like most of US infrastructure. It was far from a healthy modern bridge, at least by international standards.

[@ShhhHhhhz]

i wanna watch The Wire again

[@chrisvenning7571]

The bridge in copenhagen is so badly designed. Constant bike crashes due to idiotic design. Makes you wonder.. 😝

[@GeekyMedia]

Great video B1M team! It’s a sad topic, but a reminder that infrastructure needs revisiting and investment

[@stuartgraham9329]

All disasters are avoidable. Look at the report on anything that goes wrong and it don’t take long before you can determine what should not have happened.

[@hamstersmash]

the bridge should have moved out the way

[@amazingamx1255]

A very American response

[@gregboi183]

Why are so many bridges collapsing recently? Not just in the US, where the maintenance infrastructure seems to be widely out of date, but around the world too

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Because so many bridges were constructed in the decades of growth after WWII (50s til 70s). All these bridges need to be replaced NOW... but nobody wants to pay. So expect bridge collapses becoming commonplace. The only bridge the politicians can agree to rebuild is the crashed one.

[@ferky123]

Because there's a 50 year design life and many bridges are approaching or past that time.

[@spaceghost4474]

This is the direct result of 5 or 6 decades of neglect. Money has not been put to proper use, and the mentality that a fresh coat of paint will solve the problem have combined to make our infrastructure drop to a third world level. Those in charge must be held responsible, or this will increase to a level that may well paralyze our entire nation.

[@joermnyc]

The MV Dali want to the side of the far too small "dophin" when it hit the bridge. It's next to the ship at 11:10.

[@borntoclimb7116]

This os tragic but Lucky this is not happening at the rush hour.

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

America has so many wake up calls, yet they never learn.

[@ntw9218]

I think this is more of a lesson in maritime security. Modern ships are so large that it's imposssible to design a bridge that would be guaranteed to survive a hit to one of its supports.

[@Steamrick]

Never say never But building what amounts to fortifications isn't really cost effective

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Not at all. Just place the supports far away from the shipping channel and pour sand around them. Any ship no matter its size would beach itself before reaching the supports. The key here is MODERN bridges. Cheap old bridges like this Francis Scott Key bridge has no business existing in such a high volume shipping channel, and should have been torn down years ago.

[@felineboy1586]

You can't put that much sand you need deep wide water channels for navigation to be possible in the first place ​@@user-wm3hu7lo1g

[@eat_ze_bugs]

Nope, most modern bridges with heavy port traffic especially suspension bridges today are more than capable of handling impact from even the largest ships in the world. The bridge collapse was an infrastructure problem, not a maritime security issue. The MV Dali wasn't even on cruising speed when it hit the bridge, that tells you how prone it was to collapse.

[@ntw9218]

@@eat_ze_bugs Large container ships weigh 200 000 tons, and near a port it might travel at around 20 knots. That's roughly 2 billion Newtons of force hitting a bridge support. I seryously doubt any structure could support such a strong lateral force without being prohibitively expensive.

[@metalbob123]

Every disaster is avoidable

[@mateusmachadofotografia8554]

Every avoid is an disaterble

[@shshskateproductions2250]

Yet people like you do nothing to stop them.

[@gamm8939]

Thats simply untrue. You can't avoid Volcanos, Tsunamis or Hurricanes.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Exactly that kind of smoothing-over generalizing talk is what means nothing gets done. This particular disaster was very much avoidable.

[@chillcloudy7550]

Let me correct it further, every man-made disaster is avoidable.

[@ohheyitskevinc]

The wake up call for the US was in 1980 with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collision and collapse. Oddly, the response was to learn lessons only for that bridge’s replacement. No other bridges. The Golden Gate and bay bridges in SF are just as exposed right this minute.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

And so... the lesson learnt is that there will never be a wake up call. Expect only collapsed bridges to get replaced.

[@trampertravels]

I do not know how bridges are built in America over waterways, but here, in the UK, we protect the bridge abuttments with a large safety island all round the bridge supports and we have other concrete islands that keep shipping within it's appropriate channel. We have been safety conscious for around 400 years - we have a large canal network in our country left over from the Industrial Revolution and numerous canals that were privately built before that. Plus at the start of WW2 we had over 10,000 merchant ships and a very large navy and we still have a lot of merchant ships though our navy is a bit smaller: we protect our bridges.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

The US has historically always gone for cheaper faster methods.

[@MrPatrick2160]

Kinda surprised you didn't touch upon the parallels between the Francis Scott Key bridge incident and the Sunshine Skyway Collapse. I was kinda floored when I looked up the dates and saw how close the opening of the FCK Bridge and the Sunshine Skyway collapse were. I was honestly kinda infuriated that there were only 4 dolphins, given the amount of ship traffic I honestly would have thought after the Sunshine Skyway collapse they would added at least 6-12 additional dolphins to better protect those critical supports.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Congress won't pay a dime to prevent disasters when it's cheaper to just replace the bridge after it has collapsed. Unless, I guess, it's a bridge the politicians use themselves...

[@chaoscope]

They should call the new one "The Wire Bridge".

[@markmartindale7215]

Why?

[@peterfireflylund]

@@markmartindale7215The Wire took place in Baltimore.

[@markmartindale7215]

@@peterfireflylund I know. I live in Baltimore City. There is so much more to Baltimore than The Wire.

[@thehodgi1]

if by "avoidable" you mean, "just avoid the bridge", then yeah obviously mate

[@GeekyMedia]

Did you even watch the video? The old bridge was a compromised design

[@nothingaroundus_]

-Captain to insurance agent: "Soooo... we hit a..... bridge. And it.... collapsed" -Insurance agent: "You hit a what"

[@sierranexi]

How is a 10,000 TEU ship hitting a bridge a "flaw" of the bridge? Lol

[@dubiousName]

“This should never have happened”, best title ever. Why did you not choose “something went horribly wrong, expert says”? Lazy 😢

[@McRocket]

Makes me think of Tina driving Bob's car in that almost deserted parking lot. ☮

[@DuanIsTrapped]

These bridges always look like a upside down archway to me.😀

[@Cypher791]

So… how was it avoidable? In the same way that the other 16,000 fracture critical bridges can avoid this accident? I think the accident would have been avoided if the ship didn’t lose power at that moment… or if it wasn’t sailing at all on that day… if it wasn’t for the 1970s this would never have happened..

[@BobSmith-rf3ph]

As crazy as this is about to sound, $1.7bn really isn't THAT much considering the potential economic impact - that shipping lane being closed for 11 weeks probably cost that figure in its own right, so a figure like that as obscenely large as it is, is in reality contextually pretty tame.

[@nnonotnow]

I'm sorry I can't wake up and do anything about this. Most important thing is quarterly profits for shareholders and so anything that impacts that. I just don't have the time and money for. Signed corporate leaders everywhere

[@eat_ze_bugs]

The bridge is a symbol of the current state of this country.

[@kosycat1]

I drove over it 10 times a week the last 3 years and also the bay bridge's for work. I'm still shocked it happened. I remember going over the last time. I feel like I've always had a slight premonition about the collapse.

[@avrahamg7925]

I enjoy your channel, but today you kept repeating yourself Good luck and all the best

[@rogerc7960]

Hollow concrete upright was weak

[@rogerwilco2]

Why didn't they update the safety measures as ships got larger to modern standards?

[@kineticdeath]

my guess is such work would require effectively building a new bridge. They cant just add more steel and call it a day, that extra steel adds weight that wasnt a factor in the original design, then the piers and foundations need work to support the new mass, that would require under water works, coffer dams alot of skilled work that goes beyond just welders and fabricators - surveyers geologists etc. Before you know it you've just contracted out a whole new bridge, but probably for much higher cost than it would be to just build a new one from scratch 100 meters upriver and demo the old

[@DiakosDelvin]

Blocked by lobbyists to save their employers money.

[@lookingbehind6335]

They do not retro in the US, they grandfather everything in because it’s cheaper and easier.

[@SirHeinzbond]

well imagine we build today a standard, that could be obsolete in one or two years cause ships, planes or trucks can be build heavier...

[@LeDoomed]

It's also known for the greatest television show ever made

[@deviljelly3]

Just wondering if you have plans to translate your videos to other languages

[@jakobrebeki]

What A mess. I am so glad that it is going to be rebuilt. Lets hope it is sometime soon. Thanks for sharing....

[@herbfst]

Duh, we all watched it 1000xs.

[@davejones542]

all accidents are avoidable

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Please say something else that has no meaning

[@davejones542]

@@user-wm3hu7lo1g see this video

[@mystictraveler8642]

That bridge looks so cheap

[@bytesback.]

73 million to design a bridge !!

[@derekofbaltimore]

I live in Baltimore so i wanted to get in early on the comment thread.. 😊

[@chrismurphy110]

seems like alot of odd and strange things happing in usa all seem man made too

[@oflyer1913]

OMAHA MENTIONED ‼️‼️‼️

[@ryananderson8511]

Unfortunately no lesson will be learned we pay hard earned taxes that go straight into rich peoples pockets

[@HammerOn-bu7gx]

Sorry, but most of the federal budget, 2/3+, goes to welfare: Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, etc.

[@christianalvarez7799]

Its as if they let it happen

[@gamingbigfilipp]

not at all planned

[@sunalwaysshinesonTVs]

Click bait title to attract all the conspiracy theorist. TL;DR, the collapse was avoidable if the people who designed the bridge could see into the future.

[@End_Illegal_Apartheid_israhell]

ouch

[@rogerwilco2]

The main reason that the US has so much infrastructure in poor shape is that is has a lot more than it needs if it would build more efficient infrastructure. The US has a lot of sprawling inefficient infrastructure.

[@northdetroit7994]

TT.

[@NOXStellans]

Baltimore: Best known for its "Star Spangled Banner"-"the most treasured artifact in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C."-and the inspiration for the USA national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner"

[@lookingbehind6335]

Best known for its murder rate.

[@GeliCarlosJ]

A lot of infrastructure in the US is just one bad day away from collapse with how terrible their upkeep is. They have some 3rd world country levels of upkeep they're just lucky there's just enough smart & hardworking people to keep it all together

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Luck won't last forever...

[@christopherfox735]

I wonder why they’re not considering a tunnel rather than a bridge? Maybe have a tunnel for longer distance and bridges for shorter distances? Just a thought?

[@amazingamx1255]

Tunnels are crazy expensive and risk collapse under the weight of the ocean. Most of the time, bridges are better.

[@brians5650]

🤓

[@plazasta]

Nice video, but misleading title. The only part of this video that taks about how this accident was avoidable was when you mention how nowadays we have better solutions to prevent a ship from striking a support

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Well, the only lesson you should take away from this video is "this bridge should have been replaced years ago" so... I would say it's fair enough...

[@JustRaiHere01]

It's sad that there was a loss of life, but it could have been even more catastrophic if it had happened during commute hours. The replacement bridge will be interesting to follow to see what route they decide to take. Sadly we have done a poor job protecting bridges as modern shipping vessels have changed. They know the dangers but no one wants to spend the money.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Probably the people in charge don't use the bridge...

[@YumeFox]

A 1,7 billion dollar project, designed and planned within 9 months and constructed within 3 years. Here in Germany, that would be absolutely unheard of.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

Not really. Things can happen fast in any country, if the urgency is high enough. Just look at the new LNG terminals Germany built in record time when you guys realized you needed to replace Putin's!

[@peterfireflylund]

@@user-wm3hu7lo1gand before that, they were stuck in permission hell for many years. Too many well-connected Germans made money from Russian gas import…

[@raystewart3648]

US = BAD ENGINEERING These are the FACTS not what they said in this video. It seems to me that in the US nearly all Bridges are out dated and in need of repair. 221,800 Bridges needs repair, so far. Just like the hundreds of rail lines there. In 2023 alone there was (4,853 train crashes, with 600 deaths) that is just in 365 days.

[@mabuleonkars9706]

It’s shocking how people who do maintenance never accounted for the preventative measures of the bridge collapse, especially when it’s close to a critical port to the country

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

They wanted someone else to pay. Now they got what they wanted.

[@mabuleonkars9706]

@@user-wm3hu7lo1g wow that is tragic

[@d9918]

The Chinese could build that bridge in less than 3 months. They rebuilt a huge bridge in Shanghai in less than 45 hours where a similar bridge in the US took over 7 years. Fact.

[@katherandefy]

Crumbling infrastructure. 🥺 honestly the combo with climate change is worrying.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

You get the politicians you vote for...

[@philipgibbard304]

Why not consider building a tunnel instead, assuming the ground conditions are suitable?

[@MikeWiggins1235711]

phillipgibbard304: Simplistic answer: multiply the current bridge and road replacement cost by 4. Tunnels ARE a great answer, they're just so darn expensive.

[@rogerwilco2]

Should get replaced with a tunnel.

[@jasonfischer8946]

Definitely not. There are already 2 parallel tunnels, and the bridge allows hazardous materials to be shipped above ground.

[@jonathanmichaels2151]

Tunnels are more expensive and take longer to build.

[@dologongpoloponobonotongpo235]

blame the ship not the bridge

[@JackyThamGK]

America is more likely to spend money on war rather than maintaining its infrastructure. As a foreigner, if I comment on this issue, Americans will get piss off, not because I'm stating a fact, but simply because I'm a foreigner.

[@georgecarroll6981]

Every one has an opinion 😊

[@MichaelRodriguez-f2h]

I'm favoured financially with Bitcoin ETFs approval, Thank you buddy.$28,600 weekly profit regardless of how bad it gets on the economy.

[@MillisecondFalcon]

Another aspect of this tragedy not spoken of much is the role of alarm systems. There needs to be a standardised, worldwide system put in place whereby warning and traffic lights leading onto bridges automatically react to sensors, machine vision equipment or onboard alarm systems the instant a vessel veers off its expected course. Leaving this duty up to people on walkie talkies, who may have to travel a short distance to manually trigger alerts, reduces the amount of time for people to get to safely.

[@MrVvulf]

0:49 You well and truly butchered the pronunciation of Maryland. Natives pronounce it closer to "Mair-uh-lun". The middle syllable is extremely short. There is no "y" or even "i" sound in the middle, and the "d" at the end is pretty much silent. Baltimore natives pronounce it close to "Merlin".

[@markmartindale7215]

He's a Brit. Are You going to say he mispronounced every other word in this video?

[@KateJackson-t5w]

I watch your videos with great pleasure. Your videos are a breath of fresh air.🐩🏏💝

[@ricardosoares6483]

The bridge will be built as rapidly as humanly possible: ** 5+++ years ( we all know that's how long it's going to take). If that had happened in China of Japan there would have been a new bridge built there the next morning or the one after.

[@kekzoet7487]

Not only in China or Japan. It Genua, Italy, the San Giorgo bridge was finished within two years time after the old Morandi bridge collapsed during a thunderstorm.

[@chardsy5677]

peepoo

[@MichaelRodriguez-f2h]

I'm favoured financially with Bitcoin ETFs approval, Thank you buddy.$28,600 weekly profit regardless of how bad it gets on the economy.

[@Josh-im9go]

They will have to ask Zalenski for some of our money back in order to "Federally Fund It"!

[@markmartindale7215]

MAGA stupidity on display