Safeguarding a bridge against a major collision with a container ship is not “economically feasible,” Ben Schafer, professor of civil and systems engineering at Johns Hopkins University said during a Wednesday call with reporters. Schafer called the Key Bridge protections “modest,” saying “something like a small fishing vessel or a pleasure cruise wouldn’t be able to hit the piers directly.” The Dali weighs 95,000 tons empty.

When the Key Bridge was built in 1977, bridge designers would not have planned for a strike from a ship the size of the Dali, Gunalan said, as they wouldn’t have expected a collision of that magnitude.

Rachel Sangree, associate teaching professor at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins civil and systems engineering department, agreed with Schafer on the feasibility of protections against a ship like the Dali.

“I’m not sure that something could have practically been constructed to withstand that direct hit,” Sangree said on the Wednesday press call.

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