The collapse of the Baltimore bridge due to a ship collision prompted discussions among structural engineers regarding potential design

On Tuesday morning, a container ship struck a major bridge in Baltimore, resulting in its catastrophic collapse. The incident led to cars plunging into the water below, prompting a coordinated emergency response involving state authorities, emergency personnel, and the Coast Guard, according to reports.

Despite rescue efforts, two individuals were pulled from the water, while six remained unaccounted for as of Tuesday afternoon. All missing persons were reported to be part of a construction crew engaged in pothole repair work on the bridge. Fortunately, it was believed that no individuals were trapped inside the submerged vehicles. Traffic approaching the bridge had been halted following a mayday call from the container ship.

Jerome Hajjar, the CDM Smith Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northeastern University and current president of the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers, remarked that the collapse underscores how older bridge designs may not have adequately considered the risks posed by the increasing size of commercial shipping vessels over time. He suggested that the bridge failure might have resulted from a discrepancy between the anticipated load capacity during the bridge’s design and the actual force exerted by the ship collision.

Expressing condolences, Hajjar described the event as a “true tragedy” in an interview with Northeastern Global News. Video footage of the collapse depicted the vessel colliding with a bridge pillar, causing it to give way and collapse into the water.