Ravenel Bridge’s safety assured by engineers after Baltimore bridge collapse

(WCIV) — After a cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, destroying it, several are worried the same could happen to the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

However, those who helped build the bridge believe that it is not likely to happen. Engineers who worked on the bridge said it was built with scenarios like this in mine.

“That’s like struck by lightning, bit by a shark, it’s one in whatever millions and millions of it happening,” said Don Hand, the president of OL Thompson Construction.

For the thousands that commute over the Ravenel every day, engineers said it is okay to breathe a sigh of relief. The bridge has thousands of tons of rocks and cement piled up on its support piers, meaning if a ship loses power and is heading toward the bridge, it would be like running aground on a beach before striking the support beam.

Another engineer said they traveled to the Danish Hydraulic Institute to study models of the Rock Islands that now line those support beams. Additionally, they added chemicals to the concrete to slow the effects of wear and tear around those supports.

“The concrete was designed with a hundred-year life cycle,” Hand said. “There was a lot of stuff put into it from both chemicals and the matrix of the concrete that was put together to prevent salt intrusion and chloride ion penetration.”

The design itself also plays a part in the bridge’s safety. The Ravenel was built with hurricane-force winds in mind.

Engineers explained that the bridge was designed to be an upside-down airplane wing, making the bridge stabilize itself against the wind.

While engineers never say never, the Ravenel is considered a bridge of the future because of its wealth of safety precautions.

“With a hundred-year design life,” Hand said, “it’s pretty and safe.”

engineers said it would take a catastrophic event like a large-magnitude earthquake to do any significant damage to the bridge.

Rep. Wendell Gilliard (D, Charleston) announced Tuesday plans to introduce a Concurrent Resolution aimed at establishing a study committee. The committee will be tasked with analyzing the methods and processes surrounding emergencies like bridge collapses and preventing similar incidents in South Carolina.