Mar 21, 2025 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as part of its investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore a year ago, is recommending that 68 bridges nationwide be evaluated to determine their hardiness in case of a ship strike. The Baltimore bridge was hit by a 1000 foot long container ship and collapsed.
On the list are three local bridges: the Astoria Megler Bridge, the Lewis and Clark Bridge in Longview, and the St Johns Bridge in Portland.
The NTSB recommendations are purely precautionary and not based on existing safety concerns. The NTSB believes that had the Baltimore bridge been inspected as they are recommending now, that tragedy could have been avoided.
The NTSB has compiled a list of bridges nationwide in need of assessment, based on criteria such as age, clearance, and whether they have support piers in the water.
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Mar 20, 2025 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
Today we’ll talk about the vernal equinox, the first day of astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Did you know that the sun rises exactly in the east today and sets precidely in the west? We’ll talk about this and other interesting fact about the first day of spring.
The Tug Aurora and her barge, the Aloha Spirit, at anchor off Astoria.
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Mar 19, 2025 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
At high tide the river off Astoria seems like a wide uninterrupted expanse of river. At low tide, mudflats abound. Today we’ll talk about the complexity of rivers and why they pose challenges for vessels.
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Mar 18, 2025 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
We’ve been seeing abrupt, short lived hail storms lately. So today we’ll take a look at what causes hail and other related solid precipitation.
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Mar 17, 2025 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
We recently saw a 63-foot wave off the mouth of the river in the ocean, recorded by a data buoy offshore. While this is a big wave for us, it’s also within the parameters of a set of wave parameters called “significant wave height.”
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Mar 14, 2025 | Home Slider, Ship Report Podcasts
We’ve got a bit of stormy weather coming in, and so a good time to answer a listener question about the Columbia River Bar and how sthip traffic is affected by weather.
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