America’s infrastructure has been a source of conversation for its many issues currently in the media due to how quickly infrastructure ages, and how long it takes for maintenance and replacement for it to occur. It has recently been brought into conversations due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore on March 26.
The video of the collapse quickly made its rounds on social media following the announcement on multiple news outlets. The bridge had been struck by a large container ship and immediately collapsed into the channel of water below. The container ship now lays in the channel, still twisted with the remains of the bridge on top of it. Unfortunately, this bridge also acted as a road, and there were victims still within the channel.
There are six victims in total of the collapse, including two who were found within a red truck and have since been recovered. The other four were construction workers who were actively working on the bridge. Reportedly, there were two other workers who were present as well, but they are thankfully safe.
One of the major problems many people noticed when they viewed the video was how easily the bridge fell when it was struck. The Key bridge had served the Baltimore area for 47 years following its construction, which began in 1972, and was completed in 1977. It took five years to complete the bridge and it took all of five seconds for the entire bridge to completely fracture and break off into the water.
Investigation into how the collapse occurred will take years, and actually attempting to fix the bridge will take even longer. This is not a new issue, as this seems to always be the frustrating reaction every faulty infrastructure must face.
Infrastructure in America has always been a major dime item, as the U.S. is a country built on roads, buildings, bridges, and more physical facilities. However, maintenance to make sure these facilities are up to code and still stable long after they are built can be few and far between. Though the Baltimore collapse was an accident, it should have been one that could be prepared for and potentially prevented with the construction of a sturdier and more modern bridge and better protocols when something like this, which blocks a major port, occurs.
America is quickly finding itself to be relying on the building of infrastructure more and more everyday. Having aging infrastructure can be deadly as shown by the Keys collapse, and can lead to many people feeling like they are unheard when it comes to the structures that Americans must use to survive in a post-industrial world. The Keys bridge collapse is a devastating show of how quickly an accident can quickly destroy a resource essential for transport and travel.
For more information on the bridge, please visit
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVdVpd-pqcM,
