MEMBERS OF THE COAST GUARD MADE BETS IN 1977 AS TO WHEN A SHIP WOULD HIT KEY BRIDGE
So even if you live in the remotest parts of the Amazon rainforest, with no cell signal or even a cell phone, you already know about how the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26th. It’s the most shocking infrastructure disaster (or failure) in recent memory, anywhere. But when a cargo ship with a weight of 100,000 tons loses control and runs into something, that something isn’t ever going to be the same again. And the Key Bridge will never be the same. Most of us still seem shocked that it even happened. But back in 1977, the year it was built, the Coast Guard immediately started making bets as to when, not if, a ship would hit the bridge.
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KEY BRIDGE MADE IT NEALY 5 DECADES BEFORE A SHIP NOT ONLY HIT, BUT DESTROYED IT
To be fair, that kind of makes sense. If you look at an old picture of the Key Bridge, say any day between 1977 and March 26th, 2024, you can easily see that it’s built like it’s made of popsicle sticks. Except instead of wood, it’s made of still girders with no other independent supports. So that video showing it collapsing isn’t all too surprising, considering. But the members of the Coast Guard who made these bets probably had no idea that their perfectly logical assumption would take nearly 50 years to be realized. I wonder if there was a dead pool for bridges and anyone is even still alive to collect on this one.
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NOW, THE KEY BRIDGE IS THE LARGEST MESS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD TO CLEAN UP, AND FAST
But the Key Bridge survived quite a long time, which in its own way is pretty impressive. Back when it opened in 1977, it was the second- longest continuous-truss bridge span anywhere in the world. When it met its demise just recently, it was still the 2nd longest in America and the 3rd longest in the world. Now, it’s the biggest industrial mess in the world to be cleaned up. And all by itself, the demise and absence of the Key bridge will have a major, negative economic impact for some time to come.
