NORFOLK, Va. — Waterways in the Hampton Roads area see massive container ships like the Singapore-registered vessel DALI every day.
Like Baltimore, the 757 region relies heavily on several major crossings. Local engineers are waiting on what comes out of the Maryland investigation.
At around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a 95,000 gross-ton container ship traveling at roughly 8 knots crashed into a support column of Baltimore's iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Much of the structure crumbled and collapsed into the Patapsco River below.
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Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, an assistant professor of engineering technology at Norfolk State University, acknowledged the rarity and unexpected circumstances surrounding this scenario in Baltimore.
"For me, I thought the bridge was actually doing its job with what it was intended to do. These are steel bridges supported by reinforced concrete piers," said Dr. Kumar. "Some of these bridges, what happens is when one of the supports fails, it's evident the other supports also fail, the other span of the bridge also fails. That's what I see."
Dr. Kumar, a structural engineer, described what happened in this video as an accidental load.
"It does look like a typical structural failure, but [...] more has to be said based on the investigation," said Dr. Kumar.
13News Now's sister station WUSA in Washington, DC reported Tuesday afternoon federal inspectors found no significant issues with the Key Bridge and listed it in "satisfactory" condition during its most recent inspection in 2022, according to data from the Federal Highway Administration.
Gov. Wes Moore (D-Maryland) called the 47-year-old bridge fully up-to-code leading up to its collapse during his midday news conference.
DALI also experienced a power outage prior to the crash, Gov. Moore confirmed.
Dr. Kumar expects an investigation to partly evaluate what the structure and the ship could've improved upon.
"We can test for structural upgrades if we need for a certain bridge or even bring in protective measures if we can," said Dr. Kumar.
He added those strategies are things local engineers can apply in Hampton Roads bridges.
"This is something that doesn't happen most often but is the biggest lesson for any engineer and for anybody out there. So, I thank each and everyone there on duty to protect and also trying to save lives there," said
Gov. Moore said searchers are focused on pulling the victims out of the water. He anticipated a long-term build in terms of replacing the fallen structure; however, he couldn't give a timeline yet.
"You can requantify based on the current needs in 2024 and design for it," said Dr. Kumar.