So the tow wires or lines parted. It wouldn't have had much velocity if the current pulled it apart or its tow wires were broken due to a passing ship.

It could really be as simple as the operator misjudged the tide and got sideways and couldn't recover. Texas international is right at the bridge and they have been crazy busy with barge traffic which I believe is where this guy is going.

Barges like this do not transit the bridge, per a friend in the know.

ETA and the tides have been pretty extreme lately as well so an operator with little familiarity of the area and misjudged the current probably got sideways and couldn't recover.

TommyBrady said:

---

Theres also a section of the RR sitting on top of the barge.

---

Yep. Seems only one section of the RR Bridge.

Power was knocked out to the island as well. Must have hit that pole w/ the overhead line...

Barge strikes have actually been common for many years. They usually cause little damage and you don't hear about them.

TommyBrady said:

---

The only good news is that it looks like the railroad bridge took the main hit and only damaged the actual road bridge in a few places. This bridge is old and there have been plans being made for a new bridge for a few years now so maybe they will get their wish.

Overall doesn't look too bad and whatever is leaking needs to be handled quickly to reduce spread.

---

What do they do to contain leaking oil or chemicals?

Tony Franklins Other Shoe said:

---

TommyBrady said:

---

The only good news is that it looks like the railroad bridge took the main hit and only damaged the actual road bridge in a few places. This bridge is old and there have been plans being made for a new bridge for a few years now so maybe they will get their wish.

Overall doesn't look too bad and whatever is leaking needs to be handled quickly to reduce spread.

---

That portion of the railroad bridge has been out for at least 20 years it looks like.

---

I used to haul chemicals over that bridge 30 plus years ago. It was frail back then.

Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

---

TommyBrady said:

---

The only good news is that it looks like the railroad bridge took the main hit and only damaged the actual road bridge in a few places. This bridge is old and there have been plans being made for a new bridge for a few years now so maybe they will get their wish.

Overall doesn't look too bad and whatever is leaking needs to be handled quickly to reduce spread.

---

What do they do to contain leaking oil or chemicals?

---

Surface booms is about all unless it's massive enough to require mechanical recovery.

What's the chances of that being a barge owned by the Mossbacher family? I know at one time they owned a huge fleet.

?w=1600

Barge is owned by Martin petroleum

Memories of me and the boys gigging flounder on that stretch from the T pier to the bridge are flowing heavy right now.

Also the smell of sulphur.

CS78 said:

---

Barge strikes have actually been common for many years. They usually cause little damage and you don't hear about them.

---

Except now not only do we have a media that loves to sensationalize everything (Fox was comparing it to the bridge collapse in Baltimore), but people who don't believe anything is an accident, ever.

Rapier108 said:

---

CS78 said:

---

Barge strikes have actually been common for many years. They usually cause little damage and you don't hear about them.

---

Except now not only do we have a media that loves to sensationalize everything (Fox was comparing it to the bridge collapse in Baltimore), but people who don't believe anything is an accident, ever.

---

TBF it's the "cause little damage" part that seems to have changed for the worse.

As if the water wasn't already contaminated enough.

jellycheese said:

---

Memories of me and the boys gigging flounder on that stretch from the T pier to the bridge are flowing heavy right now.

Also the smell of sulphur.

---

The cadets were taking their Coast Guard licensing exams when this happened. The power outage has required them to reschedule and take them exam at the Coast Guard exam center.

taxpreparer said:

---

The cadets were taking their Coast Guard licensing exams when this happened. The power outage has required them to reschedule and take them exam at the Coast Guard exam center.

---

That's brutal. 4 years and that test is the only way to get a job after you're done. Never studied harder in my life and valued routine so much when in the middle of exams. Sucks for those guys.

The conspiracy nuts are already all over this in social media.

Was this incompetence or some kind of mechanical failure?

Rapier108 said:

---

CS78 said:

---

Barge strikes have actually been common for many years. They usually cause little damage and you don't hear about them.

---

Except now not only do we have a media that loves to sensationalize everything (Fox was comparing it to the bridge collapse in Baltimore), but people who don't believe anything is an accident, ever.

---

Remember when terrorists took out the bridge to South Padre Island a few days after 9/11?

torrid said:

---

Rapier108 said:

---

CS78 said:

---

Barge strikes have actually been common for many years. They usually cause little damage and you don't hear about them.

---

Except now not only do we have a media that loves to sensationalize everything (Fox was comparing it to the bridge collapse in Baltimore), but people who don't believe anything is an accident, ever.

---

Remember when terrorists took out the bridge to South Padre Island a few days after 9/11?

---

I remember when the crew of the tug moving the barges ****ed up and crashed into the bridge.

Plenty of other cases of barges getting away or being accidentally run into a bridge. Two off the top of my head are the I-40 collapse in 2002, and the 1993 collapse of a railroad bridge which dumped Amtrak's Sunset Limited into an Alabama bayou.

This bridge in Galveston isn't worth anyone's time or effort to damage. It will cause some inconvenience, but if one wanted to drop a bridge to score some kind of victory, then there are thousands of more important ones out there.

2023NCAggies said:

---

Is Galveston water ugly AF because of the muddy Brazos and Mississippi rivers?

I always wondered why it was so ugly

---

It's due to all the dirty people of Galveston

Bridge has been reopened for people to exit Pelican Island.

Inspection continues to determine the overall status of the bridge.

Sea Speed said:

---

It could really be as simple as the operator misjudged the tide and got sideways and couldn't recover. Texas international is right at the bridge and they have been crazy busy with barge traffic which I believe is where this guy is going.

Barges like this do not transit the bridge, per a friend in the know.

ETA and the tides have been pretty extreme lately as well so an operator with little familiarity of the area and misjudged the current probably got sideways and couldn't recover.

---

We used to fish the west side of the bridge for years. Great place to catch really large sand trout. The westward current really gets to ripping at times, and the Texas International facility is right next to the bridge. I have seen smaller barges occasionally use the channel to the west to get to the ICW or to get to some of the facilities along the south shoreline west of the bridge. But the channel was pretty narrow and shallow, so I doubt they do so very often. It is mostly shrimpers and recreational boats west of the bridge. If they got a barge sideways to that current without a plan, not surprising at all they would end up against the bridge.

Supposedly the bridge was scheduled to be replaced next year. It had a poor condition rating after 64 years. The barge just helped speed up the demolition process.

taxpreparer said:

---

The cadets were taking their Coast Guard licensing exams when this happened. The power outage has required them to reschedule and take them exam at the Coast Guard exam center.

---

Yea, it sucks. For some, this is the only thing keeping them from getting their degree. They had to walk with no diploma at graduation last Friday. The USCG testing folks in Houston refused to administer the exam at the school in January because there wasn't enough taking the exam. Now they have to compete with the rest of the industry to reserve a testing room that allows only 2 or 3 at a time twice per work day.

Disclosure, I was on the island, but luckily they allowed everyone off with vehicles around 2pm.

FYI, a barge hit the same part of the bridge a little less than a year ago and took out the power lines. Those power lines you see are brand new, just finished in the winter. This time it bumped into one of them causing the line to snap and fall on the barge w/ diesel fuel from the diesel pump on deck leaking from that bridge truss. The school's emergency generators had to kick on. Luckily, the island has two power lines on either side of the bridge because of this risk and hurricanes so center-point closed the cross connect.

In two weeks, the schools training ship will arrive and busses of cadets will have to leave. They'll probably have to do that at the Galveston cruise terminals.

I think everyone is just glad it didn't happen last week during graduation.