Low Bridge

[Woodlouse2002]

I was a boat spotter

Dosen't sound quite as inticing as planespotting.

Oh I dunno. There are far more types of boat and ship out there than planes. I know which I'd go for.

[Hai Perso Coyone?]

Who does that...?

[eniranjanrao]

Both guys Bridge opener and the pilot of the vessel sleeping on the job,Should have lost thier stripes.

[elite marksman]

Um, eniran, do you have any idea how long it takes to stop a ship?

Even if the skipper noticed something wrong two miles away I highly doubt that he would have been able to get the ship anywhere near stopped in time, and he was almost definitely running the engines at full astern as soon as he noticed something wrong.

It was loaded with 26000 tonnes of cargo, probably giving it a total displacement of about 46000 tonnes. With some quick math, the vessel moving at 12 km/h, means the ship has 552 MILLION Newtons of momentum to overcome before it stops. To put this into perspective, 1 newton is the amount of force required to accelerate 1 kilogram by 1 m/s^2, or about 2.2 pounds by 3.2ft/s^2.

[PsychoDiablo]

Um, eniran, do you have any idea how long it takes to stop a ship?

Even if the skipper noticed something wrong two miles away I highly doubt that he would have been able to get the ship anywhere near stopped in time, and he was almost definitely running the engines at full astern as soon as he noticed something wrong.

It was loaded with 26000 tonnes of cargo, probably giving it a total displacement of about 46000 tonnes. With some quick math, the vessel moving at 12 km/h, means the ship has 552 MILLION Newtons of momentum to overcome before it stops. To put this into perspective, 1 newton is the amount of force required to accelerate 1 kilogram by 1 m/s^2, or about 2.2 pounds by 3.2ft/s^2.

and when you put that into english it equals a hole lot of $h!t to get stoped fast

[Woodlouse2002]

Both guys Bridge opener and the pilot of the vessel sleeping on the job,Should have lost thier stripes.

Except for the fact that the ship was already passing under the bridge when it started to drop on him. And 40,000 tons of ship and cargo can not stop within it's own length. Notice how that instead of slowing down when it hits the bridge the ship just carries on as if nothing happens and the bridge and funnel just get ripped straight off.

Far from being asleep on the job the captain ordered the bridge clear when he realised that they were going to hit. But the man at the wheel stayed at his post throughout the collision by lying on the floor and steering from there. It's lucky that the bridge wasn't a few feet further down otherwise it could have taken the whole superstructure away with it.

[eniranjanrao]

Um, eniran, do you have any idea how long it takes to stop a ship?

Even if the skipper noticed something wrong two miles away I highly doubt that he would have been able to get the ship anywhere near stopped in time, and he was almost definitely running the engines at full astern as soon as he noticed something wrong.

It was loaded with 26000 tonnes of cargo, probably giving it a total displacement of about 46000 tonnes. With some quick math, the vessel moving at 12 km/h, means the ship has 552 MILLION Newtons of momentum to overcome before it stops. To put this into perspective, 1 newton is the amount of force required to accelerate 1 kilogram by 1 m/s^2, or about 2.2 pounds by 3.2ft/s^2.

Yes was working as a dock hand during internship after school yes it is a principal of maths a object relevent to size takes longer to stop a super tanker of 500,000 Dwt takes 2-4 km to stop if I am wrong please correct me.

[Woodlouse2002]

Right so you would know that any ship can't just stop at will. When moving down rivers and canals shipping has right of way over the bridges. The ship radios ahead to say they're coming and approximately how long it'll take them to arrive and as they near the bridge the bridge lifts or swings out the way for the ship to pass. On this occasion the Bridge lifted, the ship started to pass under the bridge and then the bridge came down again. Nothing the ship could do about it.

[Hagar]

Both guys Bridge opener and the pilot of the vessel sleeping on the job,Should have lost thier stripes.

If you read the investigation report you will see that the bridge operator was held responsible. http://bst.gc.ca/en/reports/marine/2001/m01c0054/m01c0054.asp

2.0 Analysis

2.1 Awareness of Vessel's Position

The bridge operator did not respond to either the VHF radio call from the Windoc or to the ship's whistle blasts, which were intended to alert him to the fact that the ship was not clear of the bridge. It is unlikely that the operator could have heard the VHF radio transmission, given the noise level in the bridge control room when the bridge is in operation. TSB examination of the bridge control room of Bridge 21, which is very similar to that at Bridge 11, indicated that the maximum noise level experienced while the bridge is being lowered in normal operation is 92.5 decibels A scale (dBA).16 Other operators indicated that they sometimes hear VHF transmissions while the bridge is in operation, but that it is not possible to understand the content of those transmissions. In this case, given the proximity of the whistle to the bridge, and the high pitch and decibel level of the whistle, the operator should have been able to hear the ship's whistle. Residents upstream of the bridge reported coming out of their homes to investigate the reason for the repeated whistle blasts.

Nonetheless, the bridge operator described having seen the stern of the vessel through the north windows of the control room where the door is located. If this were the case, the vessel would have been clear of the bridge at the time the bridge span was lowered. Analysis of the ship's position before and at the time of impact shows that the superstructure of the Windoc was clearly visible through the south windows of the control room when the operator began lowering the bridge (see section 1.15, figures 1 and 2).