GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In the wake of the tragedy in Baltimore, with the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge killing six and injuring one, many people are now looking ahead to the future.
How could this unfortunate incident in one of the country's busiest ports impact our economy?
Dr. Brian Long, the Director of Supply Chain Management Research at Grand Valley State University, said West Michiganders don't have much to worry about.
"Probably not," said Dr. Long, "unless you were purchasing a foreign automobile."
Long explained the U.S. exports 2.5 million automobiles per year, with about half of them going through the Port of Baltimore. Several automobile imports also arrive at that particular location.
"They're just simply not going to be able to do that," he said. "They've got to go to another port."
While he's not concerned about the economy at large, Dr. Long said he is a bit concerned about a link in the automobile supply chain.
"The one that I am worried about is tires — automobile tires and rims, because a lot of our tires and rims are made in either in Argentina, or primarily in Brazil now," he said. "Those particular auto parts suppliers depend on obviously shipping to our assembly points here, not only in Michigan, but again, all over the country.”
Dr. Long described the U.S. economy as a "just-in-time system." When it works, which is most of the time, it's great. It's efficient. However, when it doesn't, major problems can arise.
He doesn't believe the system needs to be reset. Rather, he said there should be better "Plan B's" in place.
“As we're scrambling right now, a lot of companies are saying, 'Well, we don't ever want that to happen to us again. So do we need an alternate source? Do we need an alternate route? Do we need an alternate carrier? Let's have something in our back pocket.'”
Full interview with Dr. Long:
The other major question is — Could this tragedy potentially happen in Michigan?
For that, FOX 17 checked in with Dr. Upul Attanayake, a WMU Department of Civil and Construction Engineering Professor.
De. Attanayake admitted this is a unique situation, considering it's hard to predict a giant shipping container, with that magnitude of force, hitting a support beam.
So, he doesn't want people to panic, especially since the major bridges in Michigan — Mackinac Bridge and Ambassador Bridge — are built differently.
Those two are suspension bridges, with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is a truss bridge.
“They are long-span bridges," Dr. Attanayake said. "They have much more clearance, and then they have the supports way away from the main navigation channel. Also, they have a cable system that can hold the bridge in place...Maryland is a completely different one, because it all depends on the supports.”
In his mind, this doesn't really come down to a design flaw in Baltimore.
It's reportedly been labeled in fair condition every inspection since 2008, the latest of which came in May of 2022.
Still, Dr. Attanayake said it wouldn't be a bad idea to consider adding reinforcements or barriers around support beams as an extra safety measure for bridges in the future.
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