Woke up to the news of a major bridge collapse: the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore which spans the Patapsco River. I thought I misheard when I turned on the news.
Found this on Facebook- this view no longer exists.
You don't think of a disaster like this happening today. And that bridge was opened in 1977. I remember when it was opened because we had family friends that lived in Bethesda Maryland and we would go down there often. We didn't take this bridge, but I remember when it opened.
Click here for Washington Post coverage.
A giant container ship hit it. If you watch the video, it crumbled like it was made of Legos or some kid's building set.
I will close with the history of the bridge posted by the Thomas Stone National Historic Site this morning on Facebook :
Note: On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, which was 2 1/2 days after this post was first made, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship. Below is the original post.
On March 23, 1977, the four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge opened to traffic and is named for the author of the Star-Spangled Banner. The 1.6-mile bridge extended across the Baltimore Harbor and connected Sollers Point in Baltimore County with Hawkins Point in Baltimore City. This was also the final link in establishing the 52-mile Baltimore Beltway (Interstate 695).
By the early 1960s, the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (Interstate 895), the first crossing of Baltimore's Harbor, had reached its traffic capacity, and motorists encountered heavy congestion and delays almost daily during rush hours. The State Roads Commission, predecessor of the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA), concluded there was a need for a second harbor crossing.
Construction on the Francis Scott Key Bridge began in 1972. Including its connecting approaches, the bridge project was 10.9 miles in length. Other structures along the thruway include a .64-mile dual-span drawbridge over Curtis Creek and two .74-mile parallel bridge structures that carry traffic over Bear Creek, near Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point plant.
Image description: Aerial color photograph of a large bridge over water.
Image text: Maryland's Historic Bridges: Francis Scott Key Bridge
Image source: Maryland Transportation Authority, #FSK_Deck_Construction_Aerial1, Photo taken in 1976 or 1977.
Thomas Stone National Historic Site
- 6655 Rose Hill Road, Port Tobacco, MD, 20677
- As of Sunday, December 24, 2023, Thomas Stone National Historic Site is closed for the season, and it will tentatively reopen in the spring of 2024.
- 804-227-1732, extension 227
- GEWA_THST_Information@nps.gov
MDArchitecutre #MarylandArchitecture #MDHistory #MarylandHistory #CentralMD #CentralMaryland #OTD #OnThisDay #TodayinHistory #OnThisDate
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