Safeguarding Bridges
23/03/25 10:16
March 22, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 14) - I have had a lifelong obsession with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. My first memory of it is in Fall 1955 when as a two-year-old I sat in the front seat of the family car between my mother and father as the family moved from Baltimore County to the Eastern Shore. It also made a strong impression on me when I attended a church camp just south of the Bay Bridge in 1962. I spent a lot of the week gazing at the bridge, watching the traffic flow to and fro, and wondering about where all those people were going. My "love affair" with the bridge was cemented in spring 1973, when I was permitted to photograph construction of a parallel span for a college television production class project (picture above). This passion eventually resulted in the publication of my first self-authored book Bridging the Chesapeake - A 'Fool Idea' That Unified Maryland. (By the way, it makes a great gift!) Recently, the bridge - officially the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge - has been on my mind for a very serious reason. Ever since a gigantic cargo ship destroyed the Francis Scott Key bridge across the opening of Baltimore harbor last year, one cannot help but wonder if the same fate confronts the Bay Bridge. I didn't really give the question of bridge vulnerability much thought when I wrote the book more than a decade ago. However, I did report that the bay ferry John M. Dennis lost its steering on July 6, 1952, and crashed into one of the bridge's main piers. This was three weeks before the bridge opened. No one was hurt and the bridge received minimal damage (page 269). One should note that loss of steering was the same issue that led to the destruction of the Key Bridge. It is also noteworthy that a bay ferry is minuscule compared to the humongous container ships that traverse bay waters today. Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board identified 68 bridges - including the twin spans of the Bay Bridge and the Chesapeake City Bridge that crosses the Chesapeake and Delaware canal - that should be evaluated for the risk of collapse from vessel strike. The NTSB was critical of Maryland officials for not proactively conducting these reviews, suggesting that this tragic situation could have been avoided. For its part, the Maryland Transportation Authority pushed back at the critical report, saying the Key Bridge collapse was solely the responsibility of the ship owners. They have also noted that a bridge risk assessment has been underway since last fall. In yesterday's edition of The Baltimore Sun, Johns Hopkins civil and systems engineering professor Michael Shields said, "Hindsight is 20/20. The important thing is that we acknowledge the risk now." Former President Joe Biden knew of importance of repairing and upgrading the nation's infrastructure by successfully passing his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, something his predecessor promised to do but failed, and his successor now criticizes as extravagant spending. As the current administration in Washington continues its slash and burn approach to the nation's budget, let's hope that common sense will prevail and this and other infrastructure projects will be allowed to continue. Failing to do so would result in a false economy and result in real consequences in the future. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.