Wednesday, March 26, 2025

The US bridges most at risk of ship strikes

Also today: Geneva feels the impact of Trump's international aid cuts, and why 5G is an expensive flop.
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One year ago today in Maryland, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a massive container ship, plunging several vehicles into Baltimore's Patapsco River and killing six people. The event was widely seen as the result of an unlikely cascade of failures, but researchers warn that the next catastrophic collision may be just a few years away.

A new study suggests that more than a dozen major US bridges are likely to face a devastating ship strike within 100 years. The most vulnerable among them can expect to be struck within roughly 20 years. The findings echo the conclusions of a separate report from the National Transportation Safety Board, which found the Key Bridge's vulnerability to "catastrophic collapse" to be 30 times greater than national standards, and which recommended 68 other structures for such reevaluation. Read more from me today on CityLab: These US Bridges Face High Risk of Catastrophic Ship Strikes

— Linda Poon

Related Reading: The Trump Administration Takes Aim at Transportation Research

More on CityLab

Trump Slashed International Aid. Geneva Is Feeling the Impact.
The longtime epicenter of global public health, peacemaking and diplomacy is being squeezed by budget cuts that could redefine its identity.

NY Asks Trump for More MTA Aid Despite Threat to Pull Transit Funds
The MTA carries 43% of the nation's mass transit riders, but its share of the federal-funding formula is 17%, representing a "fundamental misalignment," Governor Kathy Hochul said in her letter.

Why 5G Is an Expensive Flop
Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent upgrading the world's wireless networks to fifth-generation technologies. 5G's early advocates said it would "change the way we live, work and play forever." Have you noticed?

Trump cuts starve food banks, hurt farmers

"Cutting the funding leaves farmers on the hook for expenses they incurred believing they would be reimbursed and leaves our most vulnerable, food-insecure communities without meat, fresh produce and other nutritious donations they were promised."
  Jerry Costello
Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture
More than $1 billion in federal funding for local farmers, schools and food banks has already vanished, and further cuts could be coming.

What we're reading

  • Trump's "freedom cities" are a devious scam (New Republic)
  • Indian tech workers on edge about Trump's immigration policy (Deutsche Welle)

  • Colorado is poised to pass some of the toughest gun laws in the country (NPR)

  • Where the sidewalk shed ends: NYC to pass "major" scaffolding reforms (Gothamist)

  • Mud, water and wood: The system that kept a 1,604-year-old city afloat (BBC)


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