Two tugboats were helping the 984-foot Dali container ship leave port before it veered off course. Shippers pay for each minute these tugs are used, so it may be no wonder that ships choose not to be guided under the bridge on nights with a full moon and calm winds.
More than a year after the tragic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, new federal regulations require trains carrying passengers and commercial materials to have two crew members. It’s illogical that such a gigantic vehicle, which can be up to five miles long, can be operated by just one operator. These trains block road intersections for long periods of time, blocking access for emergency vehicles and forcing children to crawl under parked vehicles on their way to school.
The trucking industry is becoming more competitive and seeking more drivers. Double and even triple trailers are common in the West. Increased traffic congestion, bad weather, and aggressive driving on the roads all add to stress. Can you imagine driving an 18-wheeler every day in stop-and-go traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway, or trying to stay up early in the morning on a deserted freeway?
Being an airline pilot was once one of the most prestigious professions. The industry has become more competitive, airports are more crowded, the weather is worse, and passengers are becoming more unruly. On a recent Batik Air flight in Indonesia, both pilots fell asleep for nearly 30 minutes at the same time. There were 157 other people on their plane.
You need to consider what you want from a transportation expert. These men and women are not receiving the support they need to do what is expected of them. No one likes increased federal regulations that impede a free market economy. But if we continue to demand more with less, disasters will continue to occur.
The avoidable collapse of the key bridge should be a wake-up call. Maryland officials have long pursued a flawed and expensive strategy of simply adding toll lanes on I-495 and I-270. Even with additional lanes, only a few crossings of the Potomac River are vulnerable to car, plane and boat collisions, and even terrorism. Such an event would not only cripple the entire East Coast transportation system, but also the ability to evacuate the city if necessary.
Instead, officials should take inspiration from the “Reach the Beach” strategy proposed 35 years ago by determined Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer (D). It helped break up the weekend traffic on the way to Ocean City. A key solution was a combination of a new bridge and a bypass road.
First, we need new river crossings to divert interstate traffic around D.C. Adding a glare screen over a concrete median on a highway will instantly improve traffic flow. Avoiding the need for localized use of highways by improving major thoroughfares to improve light synchronization and eliminate unnecessary turn lanes and vehicle parking will also help.
Our employees lack observation and creativity. For example, evening northbound traffic on the American Legion Bridge is immediately reduced by using shoulder lanes all the way to River Road. Small changes can add up to big changes. And in the wake of this crisis, residents of Baltimore and Maryland deserve all the help we can get.
Paul M. GoldbergPotomac
The stars and stripes of the American flag are painted on the Francis Scott Key buoys that float up and down the Patapsco River. This location is located not far from the collapsed Francis Scott His Key Bridge. Inspired by the 1814 Battle of Fort McHenry, Key wrote a poem that was later set to music and became the national anthem. In this case, “Anthem Bridge” is an appropriate historical, patriotic, respectful, and geographically significant name for the new bridge after construction.
Petula Dvorak’s March 29 Metro column about the six workers who died in the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster, “Workers held up the nation before the span collapsed,” is a reference to growth and It was a gracious tribute to the immigrant families who have meant so much to the stability of our country. Against the backdrop of increasing attacks on such families, we must not forget what gave this country its success and character. To the agricultural workers working in the fields. To all construction workers involved in the construction of buildings and bridges. It shows how richly these families have contributed to the American national identity. And I want to thank Ms. Dvorak for once again reminding us how much this country owes to immigrants.
While we pay tribute to the six men who died on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, we also pay tribute to the number of immigrants who cross the border in search of the same opportunities and dreams they were pursuing before their deaths. It’s ironic that so many people are so angry. So many people in our country despise manual labor such as construction, field work, landscaping, and house cleaning, and yet rely on immigrants willing to do those jobs.
With the exception of Native Americans, whose ancestors were here before us, we are all descendants of immigrants who came to this country in search of a better life, even the former president who disparages newcomers. As Americans, we are many different sides. But perhaps the most obvious and ugliest thing is that we are a nation of hypocrites.
michael miller, springfield
A March 29 news article, “Republicans seek to link tragedy to illegal immigration, DEI policies,” treated Republican statements about the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse as scandalous. Nonpartisans may take a different view.
The article featured Rep. Nancy Mace (R.S.C.) criticizing the Biden administration’s infrastructure spending as primarily a “Green New Deal” effort rather than improving bridges and roads, and Rep. Jeff Van Drew He cited members of Congress (RN.J.) and others who criticized transportation costs. Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he worries too much about “DEI policy” and “racial equity.” Well-meaning people in both parties may disagree about whether the Biden administration is spending so much on so-called Green New Deals and racial equity projects that it isn’t spending enough on critical infrastructure. .
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), described as a “far-right lawmaker who has promoted baseless and debunked claims,” speculated that the clash was a “deliberate attack.” In a broadcast shortly after the bridge collapsed, FOX Business Network host Maria Bartiromo suggested the possibility of terrorism. Their hypothesis was not unfounded. As the Post itself reported, Maryland transportation officials have long been concerned about terrorist attacks on the bridge, although not specifically from the ocean.
The article then quoted Matt Schlapp, president of the American Conservative Union, who mused on the issue of drug use among workers while denying any knowledge of sailors. This is not entirely strange considering a recent incident in which a cargo ship captain operated his vessel while intoxicated.
The investigation is in its early stages. It will be weeks, if not longer, before we know why the Dali container ship hit the Key Bridge. In the absence of hard facts, politicians and other powerful figures in both parties constantly speculate and pander to their constituents. Their political affiliation or history of inflammatory statements does not mean they should automatically be removed from office.
Stan Whistler’s excellent March 29 letter, “Baltimore is Not a Backwater,” about the city’s role in building the Liberty Ships, which played a vital role during World War II. mentioned. These ships carried 80 percent of everything we shipped around the world during the conflict. Without them, Britain would have starved and Winston Churchill’s single greatest fear, defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic from 1939 to 1945, would have been realized. Britain and the then “neutral” Ireland would have been crushed by the German army. After the war, Europe would starve. Franklin D. Roosevelt called the Liberty “an ugly duckling.” But they didn’t seem that way to the places and people the ships sailed to, constantly exposed to danger, and carrying food, munitions, and civilian supplies.
With the collapse of the Key Bridge, one of our few remaining connections to this era is at risk. I serve as a sailor on the SS John W. Brown, one of her last two fully operational Liberty ships. But Brown is now in great danger. The ship’s crew and owners rely on donations, arduous and technically demanding volunteer efforts to maintain the 81-year-old ship, and twice-yearly World War II-era cruises. In total, volunteers have put in more than 2 million hours of unpaid labor to keep the ship afloat.
The Key Bridge disaster left the Brown moored next to the NS Savannah, the world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship, trapped and in mortal danger with no way to earn the money to keep the ship afloat. has been done. Think of this as a public call to “SOS — save our ship!” And it’s an important part of this country’s history.
Peter I. Hartsock, Laytonsville, Maryland
