Around 1:30 AM Eastern Time on March 27th, a cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, causing it to collapse entirely. This incident resulted in 8 individuals falling into the water, with 6 fatalities, all of whom were construction workers repairing the bridge deck.
Maxar Technologies released satellite images capturing the collapse of the bridge:
There's also a photo taken in May 2023:
The bridge spans the Patapsco River, opened in 1977, stretching approximately 2.6 kilometers. It sees around 31,000 daily users and facilitates the passage of about 11.3 million vehicles annually.
This bridge serves as a crucial link on Interstate 695 (the Baltimore Beltway), connecting to the vital shipping hub of the Port of Baltimore on the East Coast of the United States. The port ranks ninth in the nation by cargo volume, handling goods valued at over $80 billion in 2023. It supports 15,300 direct jobs and 140,000 related positions.
Currently, all vessel traffic at the Port of Baltimore has come to a halt, posing devastating consequences for Maryland's maritime industry and impacting the regional economy, potentially disrupting the global supply chain.
The timeline and cost for restoring and rebuilding, given the pace of American infrastructure projects, remain uncertain.
