Baltimore bridge collapse highlights outdated safety standards around the nation [Video]

U.S. standards for keeping bridges from collapsing when hit by ships hail from a different era.

They rely on half-century-old West German experiments on model ships for a key mathematical formula. Their minimum specifications cite the danger of empty 195-foot barges breaking loose from their moorings and drifting into bridges – a threat that seems quaint compared with the hulking 985-foot container ship that strayed off course after an electrical failure and toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month.

And in 2020, international researchers warned that the standards sharply underestimate the impact of a head-on collision by a big ship into a bridge.

As federal investigators probe what caused the Baltimore collapse that killed six workers and shut down a vital U.S. port, some experts say the tragedy is shining a light on the need to bring bridge safety requirements into the modern era.

“The design standards take a while to update,” said Mark Gaines, who …