Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse

Rare card · No. 50650

On March 26, 2024, the main spans and the three nearest northeast approach spans of the Francis Scott Key Bridge across the Patapsco River in the Baltimore metropolitan area of Maryland, United States, collapsed after one of the bridge piers was struck by the container ship Dali, which had suffered catastrophic power outages that impaired its control systems. Six members of a maintenance crew working on the roadway were killed, one was rescued from the river, and an inspector was rescued from the remaining structure. The collapse blocked most shipping to and from the Port of Baltimore for 11 weeks. Maryland Governor Wes Moore called the event a "global crisis" that affected more than 8,000 jobs. The economic impact of the closure of the waterway was estimated at $15 million per day. Maryland officials have said they plan to replace the bridge by late 2030; initial cost estimates of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion were later revised to $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion.

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