For the United States it is imperative rebuild the bridge as soon as possible and reopen the activity in the port of Baltimore after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key, since it is a fundamental enclave for commerce from the country. But could a bridge with a different type of construction have withstood the onslaught of that ship?

In its immense structure along 2,632 meters in length, Protective elements such as breakwaters are missing, which are a type of concrete islands that are placed on each pillar could have a priori prevented the infrastructure from collapsing. David Ostáriz is a civil engineer and assures that the function of these elements is to “create a protection surrounding that bridge pier, that is, a mass of loose material either natural with rocks or artificial using concrete blocks.”

In this way, Ostáriz ensures that “it prevents it from directly touching the battery and Furthermore, it does not transmit direct impact against the structure. which is what interests us so that what has happened does not happen.

The breakwaters began to be placed in the United States in the 1980s, after the Francis Scott Key had already been inaugurated. “Has been an advance these 50 years in terms of design media. Now better simulations are done, statistical analyzes are done for crash probabilities,” this engineer continued explaining to laSexta.

Furthermore, it was designed with the transit of smaller cargo ships. The current ones have 50% more capacity, like the Dali. The freighter had its documentation in order, it passed two inspections last year. Even in June she had a faulty fuel pressure motorwhich they had to repair.

Beyond the boats, the infrastructure must also be in good condition. An issue that Ostáriz highlights and that has led to “The United States now has a major problem” in this aspect.

Although it is a much more modern bridge, it compare in design, characteristics and location with the Constitution of Cádiz. In their case, they opted to reinforce the protection of their pillars very well with breakwaters known as ‘duques de alba’. Civil engineer Javier Ramírez points out what these elements are that “in port areas, where there are ship transits, is what must be done to avoid the catastrophic collapse of the bridge.” Of course, they insist that it is impossible to design infallible ‘megastructures’.