Is Detroit crash a warning for Maryland bridges?
AP Photo
Collapsed overpass blocks Interstate 75 after tanker fire brought it down outside Detroit.
We tend to think of our highway infrastructure as being permanent and impervious to the idiocy of the people that use it, but an incident that took place near Detroit Wednesday shows just how vulnerable it could be.
In that crash, an overpass on Interstate 75 collapsed after a three-vehicle crash involving a tanker truct, a tractor-trailer and a passenger car. It seems the 27-year-old driver of the car lost control of the vehicle while going about 70 mph on a curve with a speed limit of 50 mph. According to news reports, thhe vehicle swerve into a tanker and broke the connection between the cab and trailer to come apart. The fuel in the tanker caught fire and the bridge was soon history.
The incident reminded me of a well-known local bridge with a pronounced curve where drivers are often inclined to race across at speeds of 70 mph or more. If you guessed the Bay Bridge, you're on the money.
I asked Lesli Leath, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Transortation Authority, if there were any restrictions on fuel trucks on the Bay Bridge or other toll bridges in the state. The answer: No. (There are restrictions on bringing hazardous cargo throough the harbor tunnels.)
Certainly the chances of a catastrophic crash severely damaging a bridge are extremely small, but it would be worth examining whether its makes sense to take the slightest chance with the Bay Bridge in particular. It's arguably Maryland's most valuable transportation asset, and the disruption that would folllow from long-term damage to either span would be enormous.
The northern routes around the top of the bay are now far more robust than they were in decades past. Wouldn't it make sense to route fuel trucks up that way? Or at least require police escorts, as the authority does now for high-grade explosives and radioactive material. At least these are policies the authority board should consider. Let the engineers war-game some worst-case scenarios and examine what the consequences would be.
It would also be refreshing if the board were to grow a spine and ask the General Assembly to authorize the use of speed cameras on its bridges and in its tunnels. I've also long advocated enhanced fines for traffic violations at these facilities. It's a matter of protecting the crown jewels of Maryland transportation. That's all the rationale that's needed.
Categories: Maryland toll facilities
Comments
I'm not sure what you are getting at here... I thought you were going to talk about the tanker truck accident on the I-895 overpass over I-95 in Howard County a few years back... but you talk about the Bay Bridge, instead. Hazardous materials in a tunnel are far more dangerous than hazardous materials on a bridge. The concealed space would not only concentrate the material spill or fire... it would also easily harms other people in the tunnel because of the confined space. While the Bay Bridge is essential to our transportation infrastructure, I'm not sure if the cost to benefit would allow for rerouting all hazmat traffic around the bay...
"It's a matter of protecting the crown jewels of Maryland transportation. That's all the rationale that's needed."
That is not enough justification... we can not devote taxpayer dollars to hunches. If you can provide hard facts about the accident rates on our bridges and tunnels, then please use that, but your rationale is not enough. If there is a statistically significant increase in accidents on bridges and tunnel due to speeding, then I agree with you, otherwise it's just a waste or just a means of raising funds.
Posted by: Tom | July 17, 2009 2:58 AM
I also would throw in the 695 incident several years prior where a wide load vehicle carrying an improperly loaded construction vehicle hit a pedestrian bridge, sending several people to their deaths. I am not sure if the driver was ever charged. It doesn't always take hazardous materials.
Posted by: Ken Morrison | July 17, 2009 9:37 AM
What this shows is that the supporters of speed cameras will not be content to accept any restrictions on their use. They will always be going back asking for more and more government power, and the government will be happy to oblige because of the revenue motive. They will always be able to find examples to make their case because there will always be accidents _somewhere_ in a nation with hundreds of millions of people driving every day NO MATTER WHAT WE DO. The result will be a surveillance society where laws which were originally negotiated with the driving public under the assumption they would be enforced to human standards will now be enforced to the standards of omnipresent machines. Drivers will be presumed guilty and have no legal recourse if they believe a ticket is not valid, and there will be an inherent financial conflict of interest on the part of the government and their contractor. Another side effect may be, well, using them in tight spaces like bridges where the DISTRACTION caused by the cameras may CAUSE more accidents than any reduction of speed would prevent.
Posted by: StopBigBrotherMD | July 18, 2009 6:49 AM