Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge was named after lawyer who wrote US national anthem | 5 points
Coincidentally, Tuesday's collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge took place three days after the 47th anniversary of its opening.
The collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge – it came down after a cargo ship lost power and rammed into the structure on Tuesday– is ‘unprecedented’ and ‘heartbreaking,’ said Wes Moore, governor of the US state of Maryland, where Baltimore is the largest city.
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“The words ‘the Key Bridge is gone,’ it is still sinking in. For 47 years, that is all we have known. It is not just unprecedented, it is heartbreaking," Moore said at a press briefing.
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As many as six people who went missing after the ship crashed into the bridge, are presumed dead, officials said.
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Facts about Francis Scott Key Bridge:
(1.) It was named after Francis Scott Key, a lawyer from Maryland who authored the US national anthem ('The Star-Spangled Banner'). In a coincidence, the March 26 collapse took place three days after the 47th anniversary of the bridge's opening.
(2.) Built over the Patapsco River, its construction began in 1972. The 1.6-mile (2.6-km) bridge was the final link in Interstate 695, an auxiliary Interstate Highway extending around Baltimore.
(3.) According to Moore, the Maryland governor, the ‘normal commuting route’ was used by around 30,000 people every day. Most recently, it handled around 11.3 million (1.13 crore) vehicles a year.
(4.) The arched steel structure had a four-lane span, of which the main one was 1200 feet (366 metres). It was, therefore, the second-largest continuous truss bridge globally at its opening, and remained the second-longest in the United States and third in the world. It's total length was 8636 feet (2632 metres).
(5.) The Francis Scott Key, with a condition rated as ‘fair' in June 2023 by the Federal Highway Administration, must not be confused with a similarly-named six-lane bridge across the Potomac River between Rosslyn, Virginia, and Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
(With AP inputs)
