ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Will you be taking the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the beaches this Memorial Day weekend? For some people driving on this bridge can be downright frightening. Maybe you’ve heard of Steve Eskew’s driving service: Kent Island Express.
“We drive people across the Bay Bridge that are either fearful or just have absolute anxiety that they cannot drive over the bridge.”
“I had one the other day too who was too afraid of the size of the bridge,” Eskew said as he drove over the westbound span.
We met up with Eskew on Wednesday. He said that mid-week he usually just sees his usual customers. While we followed him he was getting ready to ferry Michael Ryan across the bridge.
“I thought about trying it myself to go home,” Ryan told us. “But…” he said before vigorously shaking his head at the thought of driving across the 4-mile span of the bridge.
Normally, Eskew sees an uptick starting with the beach season, but this year the Key Bridge disaster brought a temporary spike to business.
“As soon as that bridge fell we received so many calls,” he explained. “The callers were continuously asking: ‘Do you think this could happen here?’”
The next question is, what steps will the state take to protect this bridge?
It’s a fair question. Consider that weekly cargo ships, the size of the ship that collided with the Key Bridge, pass under the suspension span of the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bay Bridge.
We asked Maryland Governor Wes Moore at a recent Key Bridge press conference: What is the state doing to protect the Bay Bridge?
“I can tell you we are taking a closer look at all of our critical infrastructure, that includes the Bay Bridge,” Moore said.
No specifics, but at the same press conference Maryland Senator Ben Cardin gave an idea of when we could know more.
“NTSB is doing an exhaustive study. It will give us a lot of information in regards to what went wrong in regards to the vessel, but also in regards to safety features on bridges,” he said.
“The [Bay Bridge] is a lifeline not only to Queen Anne’s County but also the Eastern Shore,” Queen Anne’s County Commissioner Jim Moran said.
County Commissioner Moran is one of the people waiting to hear what safety measures the commission will suggest adding to the Bay Bridge.
“Nobody would have thought when these bridges were built over 50 to 75 years ago that you would have these massive 100,000 metric ton ships coming up the bay,” Moran said. “Nothing like what it is now.”
“The cargo ships are going to get bigger and bigger,” University of Maryland Civil Engineering chairman Dr. Nii Attoh-Okine said.
We asked Attoh-Okine, ‘What bridges could have survived a collision like the Key Bridge had with the Dali cargo ship?'
”Ninety-nine percent of bridges wouldn’t survive,” he replied.
Attoh-Okine didn’t want to speculate on what safety measures would come out of the Key Bridge investigation. But when it comes to old bridges like the Bay Bridge, he said sensors may play a role.
“Piers can have sensors that can report that a ship is approaching in a particular angle and at a particular speed and could signal, ‘hey! There is going to be a collision,” he said.
Another feature could be building massive concrete piers called “dolphins.” Dolphins can block ships before they collide with a bridge.
However, it’s important to note that the Key Bridge DID have ‘dolphins’ in front of it. That’s another reason Attoh-Okine said the NTSB report will be vital to the future plans for the safety of bridges like the Bay Bridge.
“What we learn in this investigation will help us in our bridge design,” he explained.
“What happened at the Key Bridge was a freak accident,” Steve Eskew said as he finished up a trip across the eastbound span of the Bay Bridge. Eskew told us the crash has given him a new list of questions from customers just in time for the summer rush.
"[Riders ask] ‘Do you think anything like that could happen? Is this bridge structurally sound? Is it safe?’” he said. “My answer is yes, this bridge is great.”
Eskew hopes his service can suspend their bridge fears for at least four miles.
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