Will the others come?

I wonder if the new monster that will replace the Key Bridge might be celebrated? Maybe only for the day and hour it opens to traffic, with a show of triumph over disaster done with great fanfare. Some bridges have started their working lives with everything but a ticker tape parade. Will people be allowed to go across on foot before it opens to motor vehicle traffic? I know one thing for sure, if that is the case, I will find a way to be there! No idea what sort of excuse I can come up with to offer my husband, but I’ve got at least four years to think up one. But, there is also the elephant in the room, that hypothetical question regarding Baltimore’s future monster. Relieved commuters and port traffic will flood onto its span, happy to have that pathway across the river restored. But will the others also come? It seems to be the case that taller bridges are more attractive to jumpers, for obvious reason. Therefore it would be logical that what will become Maryland’s tallest bridge will get some attention. Given the history of many large and iconic bridges, it never takes too long before these monsters claim their first victim. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge were not open even a year before witnessing their first fatal jump. There has been some talk of having a pedestrian walkway on the Key Bridge 2.0, but it’s nothing more than speculation. Considering the industrialized area surrounding it, and that the bridge will carry a portion of Interstate 695, I doubt that will happen. But, if by some chance it does, I would imagine that it would be designed with railings that are difficult to climb over. But for just a highway bridge, I doubt will be the case. Based on the current circumstance of being without a bridge, it appears that expediency is the most important consideration with regards to the rebuild. Seconded by making sure that an accident like that never happens again, and making the bridge tall enough to clear the biggest cargo ships. Frustrating jumpers is very, very far down on the list in this case.

There is another large bridge in southern Maryland that was recently rebuilt, the Governor Harry Nice Bridge on Route 301 going from Maryland into Virginia. The original was a truss bridge, looking like a smaller version of the Key Bridge. The entire span was twice the length but not as tall. The new bridge is a scaled down San Diego Coronado Bridge, a run of the mill concrete structure entirely lacking in any aesthetic appeal. The old truss bridge had seen some jumpers during its many decades of existence. The new bridge has been operational for over a year now, and I wonder if it has seen any jumpers. It seems the state has made a move to plan for that by posting crisis hot line signs on the highest part of the span. However, this bridge still has the typical jersey wall barriers like the Key Bridge had. The old Key Bridge also had the signs and emergency call boxes, so I would imagine that is what the new one will have. As said, I don’t believe that either the Nice Bridge or the Key Bridge came anywhere close to the Bay Bridge with regards to being an epic blood splattered monster that seen the loss of many lives. There are plans afoot to build a new span to replace the existing spans of the Bay Bridge in the next couple of decades. These appear to possibly include pedestrian and bike access, which make sense as there is a state park on the western side right near the entrance to the bridge. Given the bloody history of the steel serpent of the bay, I have no doubt measures will be put in place on a new span to try and separate that monster from its potential victims.