Could the Baltimore bridge disaster happen in London? Expert reveals how it unfolded

Dali cargo vessel crashed into the bridge shortly after leaving Baltimore (Credit: Tasos Katopodis, provider Getty Images)

An expert has weighed in on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after a cargo ship crashed into it, with six missing people now presumed dead.

Heart-stopping footage shows how the force of container vessel Dali sent the steel bridge crumbling like a deck of cards in the early hours of Tuesday in Baltimore, Maryland.

The sudden impact hurled cars and people into the ice-cold water of Patapsco River.

Six bridge construction workers have not been found and are now presumed dead after the $110 million bridge snapped and collapsed.

A dad-of-three Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, was named as one of the victims, but his body is yet to be recovered.

How could it happen?

The crash came out of the blue and there were no warning signs, according to Leroy Gardner, professor of structural engineering at Imperial College London.

The engineering expert told Metro.co.uk: ‘These are the kind of things you don’t expect.’

When he first saw the footage of the crash, Prof Gardner said he thought it was a ‘disaster’.

But for an expert, it was also ‘fairly clear’ how it unfolded.

He explained: ‘A very large vessel moving at some speed crashed into one of the piers and it could not resist and collapsed.

A satellite image shows Francis Scott Key Bridge in May last year (Credits: via REUTERS)

‘The bridge and the steel followed a collapse into the water with it. Once the support had been destroyed the fact that it collapsed was not surprising.’

The piers are the most vulnerable part of a bridge alongside height, he warned.

If a smaller vessel had made only a ‘glancing slow contact’ it would have been okay, he added.

Baltimore Fire Department said the alarm was sounded about 1.30am ET.

‘In a sense it was lucky it happened in the middle of the night. There were clearly cars travelling on it, but if it was rush hour, the death toll would have been much higher’, Prof Gardner said.

The scale of damage (Credit: AFP)

He said the age of the bridge, which opened in March 1977 after a five-year construction, did not play a role.

Francis Scott Key Bridge is a ‘relative youngster’, as big bridges like it typically have a design life of 120 years, Prof Gardner said.

‘It looked – although you can’t tell – in good state of repair,’ he said.

Could a bridge collapse in London?

No, a Baltimore-like collapse is ‘not something that is of immediate concern’.

In London, vessels on the River Thames are ‘much smaller’ than the Dali container cargo ship.

London Bridge is not at immediate risk from passing vessels (Credits: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The Second Severn Crossing (SSC) between England and Wales was opened in 1996 and named the Prince of Wales Bridge in 2018 (Credits: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Thames and Patapsco River are also very different.

In the River Thames, vessels have ‘less impact force, and there are speed limits around, although I’m sure there were around this structure as well’, Prof Gardner said.

Contact between vessels passing under bridges at low speed are ‘relatively common’, while huge a impact like this is ‘very rare’, he added.

Like with any major accident, there are ‘lessons to be learned once the dust has settled’, Prof Gardner admitted.

But it is likely to have an impact on thinking and safety standards after an investigation is carried out.

State of Britain’s bridges

New data released today has also highlighted the poor state of thousands of bridges in the UK.

Figures have revealed one in every 25 bridges in Britain are not fit for carrying the heaviest vehicles.

Councils found that 2,928 of the 73,208 bridges they are responsible for were substandard at the end of last year, motoring research charity RAC Foundation warned.

It means they are too weak to be used by 44-tonne lorries – the heaviest vehicles allowed on public roads.

Many of them now have weight restrictions, while others are under increased monitoringor even managed decline.

Devon has the most substandard bridges at 222, followed by Essex (148).

Somerset has 128 faulty bridges, followed by Suffolk (119) and Cheshire East (108), according to RAC Foundation.

The proportion of faulty bridges has dropped slightly from 4.4% a year ago to 4.0%.

Councils still have way to go to repair substandard bridges – and it is not cheap.

They wanted to bring 1,955 of faulty bridges back up to scratch.

But financial struggles mean only 292 will be repaired in the next five years, the charity said.

Price tag for the backlog of bridge maintenance works across Britain is around £6.8 billion.

However, the worrying data should not be ‘used as a stick to beat highway authorities with’, said RAC Foundation’s director Steve Gooding.

He called for innovative engineering for cheaper and more resilient repairs amid climate and budget constraints.

He said: ‘The real danger lies in the change in climate – more temperature extremes and more wind, rain, snow and ice put are putting an ever-greater strain on the foundations of our roads and the structures that carry them.’

Britain’s highway infrastructure represents ‘centuries of investment, serving as the backbone of our economy and communities’, said Keith Harwood, the chair of the national bridges group of Adept working with council bosses working with transport.

‘However, as our bridges age and face mounting pressures from increased traffic and the impacts of climate change, maintaining their resilience becomes increasingly critical’, he added.

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