| After the bridge collapse in Baltimore, it has made me wonder what areas are susceptible from a loose ship during a hurricane. It was an extraordinarily large ship in Baltimore, so I assume usually there are no ships of that size in areas where a hurricane will be. It would have to be quite the surprise hurricane to have some still there of this size. You see runaway barges sometimes, but they are much smaller that I have seen. Some bridges don't have the protection around the supports. A bridge in the Tampa Bay area in 1980 collapsed when a barge hit it in bad weather. It was built back better. This picture from a long time ago shows the newer bridge and the span of the old bridge that was still standing at the time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge#/media/File:Skyway_Bridge_old_and_new.jpg You can see the differences in what protects the bridge's supports. Every bridge should have those protections where large ships navigate, but obviously not all do. In terms of just the monetary cost, very expensive of course, though it costs more to rebuild the bridge. It got me wondering about the Northeast though, and all around the coast as well. I don't know how many bridges have those kinds of protections. While hurricanes are a threat, ordinary storms and Nor'easters are too. So maybe the Northeast is as prepared in that regard as everyone else. I don't know. I didn't do an in depth search, but I was looking to see if there were any hurricane related bridge collapses. I know some sections of bridges, more so causeways, have been damaged. But I was wondering if there were any that were a threat to shipping, such as after the storm work had to be done to remove sections of bridge where shipping usually takes place. I know in some cases the waterways have to be cleared of debris that could be a danger to navigation, but I don't know about any more complex instances, like a bridge needing to be cleared too. It could add a lot of time needed to get an area back to being able to receive cargo for example, assuming the area where it was going was not too impacted. |