紐時賞析／貨輪越來越大 官員憂基伊大橋坍塌事件重演

Projects to Fortify Bridges Face Test as Ships Bulk Up

強化橋梁結構 問題是船愈來愈大

As larger and faster container ships began to chug up the Delaware River in recent years, transportation officials feared the prospect of one going astray that would lead to a repeat, or worse, of what happened in 1969, when a tanker struck the Delaware Memorial Bridge and caused significant damage.

隨著近年來更大與更快的貨櫃輪開始在德拉瓦河呼嘯而過，運輸官員擔心，一旦有船開錯方向，將導致1969年的事件重演，或者更糟；當時一艘油輪撞上德拉瓦紀念大橋，造成嚴重損壞。

So, last year, work began on a $93 million project to build eight massive cylinders that would stand guard in front of the bridge’s piers in order to protect a system that carries tens of thousands of vehicles a day.

所以，去年，一項9300萬美元的計畫開始動工，要修建8個巨大圓柱，在橋墩前方守衛，以保護一天承載數以萬計車輛的系統。

“The tankers and cargo ships of 1950 aren’t the tankers and cargo ships of today,” said James Salmon, a spokesperson for the Delaware River and Bay Authority.

德拉瓦河灣管理局的發言人薩蒙說，「1950年的油輪和貨船可不是今日的」。

Tuesday’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after a cargo ship nearly three football fields long crashed into it, claiming the lives of six people, has prompted questions about whether similar disasters could happen elsewhere.

巴爾的摩基伊大橋周二遭一艘將近3個足球場長的貨輪撞上坍塌，奪走6個人性命，引發類似災難是否會在別處發生的質疑。

But the work on the Delaware Memorial Bridge reflects the fact that some transportation and maritime experts have been mulling the hazards of new cargo ships squeezing under decades-old bridges for some time. There are no easy answers, in part because ships keep getting bigger.

但德拉瓦紀念大橋的工程反映出一個事實，即長久以來，一些運輸與海事專家一直在考量新貨船擠在數十年歷史橋梁下方的危險。沒有簡單的答案，部分原因出在船隻愈來愈大。

Many transportation officials say drawing parallels to the Key Bridge is difficult because what happened in Baltimore appeared to be such an unusual event — a confluence of factors at the worst time. As the ship, the Dali, hurtled through the harbor without a tugboat connected to it, it experienced a “complete blackout” and lost control, then struck a pier that had small protective barriers.

官員表示，要跟基伊大橋對照有困難，因為巴爾的摩發生的事似乎是個很不尋常的事件，是多種因素在最壞時刻的匯集。「達利號」這艘船沒有拖船連接就衝過港口，經歷一次「完全停電」並失去控制，然後撞上一個只有小型防護圍籬的橋墩。

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that they were not only examining the protection system around the Key Bridge, but seeking records about the protections around other bridges in Maryland.

國家運輸安全委員會的官員周三表示，他們不只正在檢查圍繞基伊大橋的保護系統，還在尋找馬里蘭州其他橋梁周圍防護的相關紀錄。

Efforts to enhance bridges are frequently slowed because of the many state and federal governmental entities involved, the often glacial pace of funding and the construction time required for such large-scale projects. Still, some places have seen results.

因涉及許多州跟聯邦政府單位，強化橋梁行動經常拖延，這類大型計畫撥款往往牛步，施工也要時間。儘管如此，一些地方已有成果。

In Minnesota, a boat pushing 12 barges rammed into a Union Pacific railroad bridge near St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2017, damaging a century-old pier. A protection system was built around the new pier.

2017年在明尼蘇達州，一艘船推著12艘平底船，撞上明州聖保羅附近一座聯合太平洋鐵路橋，破壞了一個百年歷史橋墩。新橋墩周圍興建了保護系統。

In New York, the Bayonne Bridge was raised by 64 feet in 2019 to accommodate increasingly larger vessels calling at the container ports in New Jersey and Staten Island.

紐約貝玉揚橋2019年抬高64呎，以配合停靠新澤西州與史泰登島貨櫃港的船隻愈來愈大。

文／David W. Chen and Mike Baker 譯／周辰陽