Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Cargo Ship Crash
The Facts
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed into the Patapsco River early Tuesday morning after a 985-foot by 157-foot (300 meter x 48 meter) cargo ship crashed into one of the bridge's supports.
Following the collapse, which occurred around 1:30 a.m. local time, several vehicles fell into the cold water. Fire Chief James Wallace said two people had been rescued but between seven and 20 were still missing in the water.
The Spin
Narrative A
Infrastructure in parts of the US has been neglected, and this can be the result of not putting money and ingenuity into preserving important roads and bridges. Other states should follow the lead of Florida, which has underwater structures to redirect ships that go off track, and builds its bridges with redundancy — the ability to perform their function even when damaged. Neglected American infrastructure must be addressed.
Narrative B
Maybe the bridge could've been in better shape at the time of this incident, but the quality of the bridge isn't to blame for this incident. This should be a lesson that shipping traffic needs to be better managed, and the size of cargo ships needs to be restricted. Even if this bridge had been rated better than fair — a classification most bridges in the US have — it might not have been a match for this extra-large vessel.
