MV Delta Mariner Strikes KY Bridge - Bridge Collapses
 

W. T. F? First, sea-going vessels on Kentucky Lake?! Rocket engines?! What the hell is going on in my world?

The maritime vessel Delta Mariner struck the U.S. 68 bridge (the Eggner's Ferry Bridge, the western entrance to Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area) collapsing two spans. At least one of the spans appears to be tangled on the bow of the ship. Apparently, no one was injured.

You know somebody's gonna have a long day when you see pics like these:

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Kentucky.com article

Journal of Commerce article

Whoever works on such things were working on warning lights on the sides of the bridge, but the lights were supposedly lit on the side the ship approached from.

A few more pics, that last one might just tell the whole story.

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Merc, you've probably driven across this bridge a time or two when you were at Fort Campbell, no? I can't count the times I've crossed it (almost all of them with my eyes closed). But, I can the times I'll cross it again. 0.

Wow grav! That is some crazy shit!

That's one rusty bridge. It's an excuse to replace it.

The shipping company isn't owned by a bridge building company, is it?

This bridge and a sister bridge crossing Lake Barkley, to the east, are scheduled for replacement. Work to be started in 2011. Popdigr says they'll repair this bridge, I'm thinking they'll wait for the replacing bridge.

2800 cars a day though, so who knows.

I had no clue boats of that size were on the Tennessee River.

How can a ship that size not have navigation charts with clearance?!
Unless he was on an unscheduled route like Francesco Schettino.

Your driving scares me.

Dude is that the Bridge at new Johnsonville ??

Was that ship riding high in the water, so it was a collison waiting to happen ?

There is a short road, a shortcut really, that goes by some land of my dad's and has a dip under the railroad trestle. It's clearly marked, how much clearance there is, and introduced with flashing yellow light to warn.

Yet it gets hit. My dad was witness to some old couple driving I don't know what that didn't clear and they got pretty beat up. He helped them out. Said it was not good.

They're going to fix it someday. Make the road gradually getting lower so there is more clearance there.

How can you not wonder if you'll clear it or not? In the case of a car or a boat? Of course, I'm the one who slows down or stops (if visibility in one direction isn't available until right at the tracks) at train crossings because I've certainly seen the lights and gates malfunction on the side of "no train coming" so sure it could malfunction the other way as in not being activated yet guess what? TRAIN.

Being hit by a train, not clearing an underpass. These are the things that should be easily avoidable. ;)

scuse me closer to south fulton , we have customers up that way

A school mate of my grandson was hospitalized after skate-boarding into
the middle of a moving train, with crossing lights and gates working properly.
The kid later claimed he did not see the train was crossing the sidewalk.

Darwin must have blinked. :headshake

Yikes! Was he injured?

Darwin blinks a lot. Especially for the young ones. I remember feeling invincible, doing stupid things, but I also remember things like...looking for trains!

What Sundae said. Captain of that vessel is in trououououble!