The port of Baltimore, key to US maritime trade

The collapse of a large bridge in the city of Baltimore (eastern Maryland) on Tuesday paralyzed one of the ports busiest of USA, where gigantic container ships pass every year and where tourist cruises also stop.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge is named after the author of the lyrics to the United States national anthem. About 11 million vehicles pass through it a year, an average of 31,000 a day.

The forced closure of the port can cause substantial economic damage. In 2023, more than 52 million tons of goods worth about $80 billion entered the United States through the Baltimore terminal, according to the office of Maryland Governor Wes Moore.

Baltimore is the deepest port on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay and handles the largest volume of commercial automobile and light truck shipping in the United States, as well as the largest quantities of imported sugar and gypsum.

It is the ninth most important port in the United States, in terms of cargo and value of cargo of foreign merchandise moved.

Its activity generates more than 15,000 direct jobs and almost 140,000 indirect jobs.

The marine terminal generates about $3.3 billion in total revenue each year, according to the Maryland State Archives, and contributes nearly $400 million in annual tax revenue.

More than 50 shipping companies use the port each year, for a total of almost 1,800 trips per year. In addition to its use as a major port for container shipping, it also serves as a cruise terminal.

Last year, more than 440,000 people left the port of Baltimore, the most since 2012, according to the governor’s office.

“Inadequate” protection

According to bridge designer Robert Benaim, large physical connectors over marine terminals like this one must be designed in such a way that damage is minimized in the event of a collision.

“Clearly, the protection of the docks in this case was inadequate,” he claimed.

“A pier or a column of a bridge could never withstand the impact of a large ship. “We have to protect them from a collision,” he added.

For his part, Toby Mottram, professor of structural engineering at the University of Warwick, explained that “It is evident that the pier could not withstand the power of the impact, which caused its failure and the subsequent collapse of the steel reinforcement and the superstructure of the reinforced concrete platform.”

“The magnitude of the damage to the bridge superstructure appears disproportionate to the cause, an issue that will be investigated in the future,” the specialist noted.

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