BALTIMORE — The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after a large ship collided with one of its pylons is raising questions about bridge safety throughout the Chesapeake region.
Some engineering experts say there is reason to be concerned about the Bay Bridge crossing the bay between Anne Arundel County and Maryland's Eastern Shore just 20 miles from Baltimore’s harbor.
The Bay Bridge, officially known as the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge, is complex. It consists of two spans built more than a decade apart with different levels of protection from ship collisions.
The existing protections were engineered before the modern age of mega ships like the one that took down the Key Bridge in Baltimore.
That ship, the Dali, is a Neo-Panamax-class vessel designed to squeeze through the Panama Canal with a maximum cargo load.
Engineering professor Adel Elsafty, of the University of North Florida, told CNN that the design of the nearby Chesapeake Bay Bridge spans from the 1950s to 1970s. They could be at risk if hit by a similar ship.
“If one support goes down, then the whole superstructure will go down as well and it will pull the other parts as well," Elsafty said. "It's gonna have that kind of catastrophic failure."
Elsafty pointed out that the Bay Bridge does have protective fenders around its key towers, but they do not approach the protection layer of structures known as "dolphins," which are like man-made islands large enough to divert an errant ship.
The bridge is operated and maintained by the Maryland Transportation Authority, the same agency in charge of the shattered Key Bridge.
Responding to a CNN report, the agency released a statement saying that the agency is "looking at options with the U.S. Coast Guard on the feasibility of increased pier protections for the bay bridge and what's possible in the navigation channel."
According to Maryland data, 27 million vehicles cross the Bay Bridge every year, while a majority of the 1,800 ships that call on Baltimore's port annually pass under.
In nearby Delaware, the state is in the midst of building "dolphins" to protect the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which links the New Jersey Turnpike to I-95. The cost of that retrofit is nearly $100 million and will be finished in September 2025.
Transportation experts say it's far too early to speculate if something similar may be in store for the Bay Bridge crossing the Chesapeake.
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