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Collapsed Baltimore bridge safety standards reflect expenditure decisions, size of vessels at time it was built: Experts

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, opened in 1977, collapsed on Tuesday (Mar 26) after being struck by a Singapore-flagged container ship Dali, sending vehicles and people plunging into the waters below.

Collapsed Baltimore bridge safety standards reflect expenditure decisions, size of vessels at time it was built: Experts
An aerial view of the cargo ship Dali sitting in the water after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. (Photo: Getty Images/AFP/Tasos Katopodis)
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The destroyed Baltimore bridge will take at least three to five years to be rebuilt, depending on the level of red tape involved, said one industry expert.

The incident will push other ports and authorities to reassess the strength of their own structures, given that the size of vessels has increased greatly over the decades since the Baltimore bridge was built, another expert told CNA.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, opened in 1977, collapsed on Tuesday (Mar 26) after being struck by a Singapore-flagged container ship Dali, sending vehicles and people plunging into the waters below.

“The bridge has essentially been completely destroyed, so it has to be rebuilt from the start,” Professor Jean-Paul Rodrigue, who specialises in maritime business administration at Texas A&M University at Galveston, told CNA’s Asia First on Wednesday.

“It’s going to take, in my opinion, at least five years to rebuild the bridge. Maybe a little bit shorter if let's say there's less red tape (and) it could be perceived as a project of national significance. It could accelerate it, but (it would take) three to five years at least to rebuild such infrastructure.”

United States President Joe Biden has pledged that the federal government will pay the full cost to rebuild the bridge, one of the nation's busiest traffic arteries.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The bridge was a main thoroughfare for drivers between New York and Washington, with 11.3 million vehicles passing over it each year.

“This bridge is essentially part of the ring road that surrounds the city of Baltimore, so it obviously has a strong influence and a strong effect on the traffic going through the region along the most heavy traffic route of the United States, which is Interstate 95,” said Prof Rodrigue.

“However, on the positive side, there are alternatives to this route.”

The fallen bridge was one of three ways to cross the Baltimore Harbour.

Prof Rodrigue said that while the accident would certainly disrupt the US national supply chain, it will not be catastrophic or of “high impact for the regional economy”.

A view from one end of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, after the Dali cargo vessel crashed into it and caused it to collapse. (Photo: REUTERS/Craig Hudson)

Baltimore is a mid-sized port which carries around 1.1 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year, he said. In contrast, New York carries 9 million.

“It is going to have a disruption, particularly over the car import and export industry because Baltimore was ranked the number one in the United States for car import and export,” he noted.

However, a lot of its cargo traffic can be diverted to nearby ports, such as New York, Hampton Roads in Virginia, Savannah in Georgia, and other smaller ports around the Eastern Seaboard, he said.

Another sector which will be affected is the coal industry, as Baltimore is a key exporter of coal, particularly to India, noted Prof Rodrigue.

IN LINE WITH SAFETY CODES

Local authorities had said that the Francis Scott Key Bridge was in line with safety codes before its collapse.

“It was designed for codes and standards of 50 years ago, with steels that were in common use 50 years ago,” civil and structural engineer Julian Carter, director of British firm By Julian Limited, told CNA’s World Tonight on Wednesday.

He added that safety measures in place also reflect the expenditure decisions from when the bridge was being built, such as the addition of mechanical fenders that act as rubber shock absorbers.

These days, there are also harbour pilots onboard vessels to guide them through the area.

“Ultimately it's a huge extra cost if you would've designed that pier for a full collision like this. Obviously 50 years ago, it wasn't considered credible,” said Mr Carter.

He added that as design codes and standards constantly evolve, it would be “prohibitively expensive” and not financially viable to regularly bring national infrastructure up to the current standard.

Mr Carter added that the increasing size of vessels over the decades due to advanced technology, calls for fresh considerations for ports and waterways.

“Ships of this size … weren't around 50 years ago when this bridge was designed,” he said.

A family looks at the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, as it sits on top of the container ship Dali after collapsing. (Photo: AFP/Kent Nishimura)

He cited the example of the Suez Canal, where ships have accidentally blocked the whole waterway.

“We are at a point where this accident now will make many ports, harbours (and) governments reassess their structures for such collisions,” he said, noting that the risk of such hazards occurring is very high.

The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said that the Dali container vessel had passed two foreign port inspections last year, in June and September.

Its next classification and statutory surveys are due in June this year.

Prof Rodrigue said it is common for a large vessel like the Dali to travel close to critical infrastructure, as the area is a navigation channel.

“The paths are very well identified. There were two pilots on the ship (and) they know the route very well. So this is nothing unusual as far as the path is concerned,” he explained.

“In every major port access around the world, usually those ships are going to pass nearby critical infrastructure such as bridges, which is in this case.”

Source: CNA/fk(ca)

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