Another bridge was hit by a ship, this time in Texas. A barge hit the Pelican Island Causeway, causing a partial collapse and a stop in all vehicle traffic. In addition, a partial oil spill has started to move towards the Gulf.
Although not as serious as the Baltimore Bridge collapse, this will likely impact the economy of the area. Shipping is critical for moving energy and goods in the Gulf. ABC 13 says:
A barge hit the Pelican Island Causeway Wednesday morning, damaging a portion of the bridge and causing an oil spill in the bay, according to the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office.
The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is shut down for approximately 6.5 miles between marker 350.5 to 357 as officials respond to this incident, County Judge Mark Henry said, adding that the oil spill is heading in that direction, so the U.S. Coast Guard decided to move forward with the closure.
This is the second massive bridge collapse in two months, showing the true vulnerability of infrastructure in the United States. While not likely to be a terrorist attack, it still shows the weaknesses of homeland security at home.
The incident comes about six weeks after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore when a Sri Lanka-bound container ship hit the structure, causing it to fall into Baltimore’s harbor, killing six construction workers.
The disaster in Baltimore and a spate of recent incidents involving barges has highlighted the vulnerability of bridges to strikes.
America desperately needs to rebuild its crumbling infrastructure, something that both Trump and Biden have talked about.
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