Engine failure, loss of directional control, disaster.
One of the longest bridges on this flat earth sank this morning, when a fully loaded, 1,000 meter? Inch? Foot? long cargo ship lost power, and took out just one support structure.
Questions that pop up ran-dumbly:
A. Was it deliberate?
probably not. The crew reported issues ahead of time.
B. Could it be repeated?
Of course it could. Just like our national electric grid (excepting Texas, where they fail repeated all alone, without any external farces) is at risk, especially with wicked bad solar storms, every highway, railway and pedestrian bridge and/or passage, is a potential target for an attack.
C. Did that bridge structure look rather spindly and more like an erector set, rather than a critically important transport structure serving not just the East, but effectively, the entire nation?
You betcha. I am no engineer, but I have litigated building, commercial storehouses, bridges and a tunnel collapse or partial collapse. One of the biggest questions BEFORE you build, “What are the risks?” In California, earthquakes have to be taken into account by Code. They understand what a minor shake, rattle or roll could do to their finished product.
Along the Mississippi, new bridges take into account the now annual, “once in a century” floods that seem to accompany every spring. Having bits and pieces washed away by a flood is a thing to be avoided.
Here, one of the busiest sea ports (hint: lots of commercial sea traffic) deserves a very safe bridge, one designed and constructed in a way to prevent severe damage when a large ship collides. You want an example of successful over-engineering? Go to Rome, Italy. It can be done, even today.
The port is effectively closed for a time. The waterway is blocked, possibly for months. That former bridge? A 3 hour car tour of the bridge and surrounding area, has turned into a modern Gilligan Central. This bridge must have protection against future collisions and deliberate attacks from Russia, Iran and House Republicans.
Hell, if the Russians can keep a critical bridge safe and operating in a time of high-tech, drone-based war, clearly here in the US we can do the same.
Still, we need a temporary fix, since speedy transit of goods has become a national addiction. We just need a big enough needle.
How about this? Until the bridge debris is cleared, and reconstruction is underway, we need a port that connects with truck, car, train, and plane transit. We already have that. The military bases, especially the naval bases, were big and effective enough to run both WWI and WWII from their facilities. Clearly, they could help pick up the slack and fill in the blanks.
For example, NSF Indian Head Navy Base in Indian Head, MD, is large enough to handle the traffic. It hooks up with local and national rail systems. It could easily handle truck traffic, to support the nation’s needs.
Double use of military investments are not new, nor unheard of. President Ike-enhower built a fantastic transportation complex across the entire country. If you look closely, at every, every, connection between two major interstate highways, you will find a military base, an arms depot, a military repair center etc. Ike planned it like that. It was to mobilize if Putin’s parental units had actually invaded the USA. A few may have been closed or shuttered, and some are very hard to spot, but they are there.
Multi-tasking military bases for commercial use, until the port and bridge are functioning again, seems to be a plausible, albeit, temporary response.