China already experienced an accident similar to that in Baltimore in February: the crash of a cargo ship against a bridge in the southeastern city of Cantonwhich left five dead and already highlighted the safety risks that these boats constitute for urban infrastructure.
In a similar way to the incident caused by the Dali ship, which crashed into a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, a container ship hit two pillars of the structure of the Lixinsha Bridge in the aforementioned Chinese town.
In the case of the Chinese vessel, The hull first hit pylon number 18 of the bridge and then the bow hit pylon number 19, which caused a crack in a part of the bridge.
As a result of the crack, a bus with a driver on board, a van with three people and an electric motorcycle with its driver fell into the water.
However, Unlike the Baltimore structure, the Cantonese bridge, built in 1994 and measuring 775 meters in length, did not collapse. although the local government explained that structures at risk of instability would be demolished “to eliminate possible dangers.”
While the Singapore-flagged ship Dali suffered a power outage after leaving the port of Baltimore, the ship’s crash into the Lixinsha Bridge was caused by “human error,” authorities reported.
The vessel involved, identified as ‘Lianghui 688’, was sanctioned by the local Maritime Administration due to “lack of adequate surveillance” in a “heavy traffic area.”
Although some Internet users on social media in the Asian country criticized the “obsolete” American infrastructure shortly after the accident, local experts pointed to the different structure of the Lixinsha and Francis Scott Key bridges and the different nature of the collision, which make it difficult to compare both accidents.
According to some commentators, the Dali hit one of the key pillars of the Francis Scott Key bridge, affecting its main structure, while the Chinese ship collided with two side pillars of the Lixinsha, allowing it to remain standing.
The collapse of the 2.6-kilometer Francis Scott Key Bridge, built in 1972, has indefinitely blocked access to the Port of Baltimore.one of the most important in the United States in the Atlantic, which will hinder cargo and passenger traffic on the east coast of the country and anticipates serious economic consequences.
According to the television network, the incident was due to “inappropriate operations by the ship’s crew.”
The crack in the Lixinsha bridge, which also broke a pipe carrying water, temporarily cut off communication with an island home to 9,100 people.
Guangzhou province, where the accident took place, is a major industrial area with a dense network of maritime trade routes.
Economic impact and reconstruction
The collapse of the bridge has indefinitely blocked access to the port of Baltimore, one of the most important in the United States in the Atlanticwhich will hinder cargo and passenger traffic on the eastern coast of the country and anticipates severe economic consequences.
Immortalized in the television series ‘The Wire’, the bridge was inaugurated on March 23, 1977 and has been an economic pillar for the area since it was erected
For this reason, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, was quick to react and announced the reconstruction of the bridge as soon as possible.
“I have ordered my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible,” the president declared in a message to the press at the White House.
Keep reading:
• A bridge falls in Baltimore after the impact of a ship while vehicles were crossing at that time
• Baltimore authorities search for 6 people after Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse
• The impressive images left by the collapse of the bridge in Baltimore