Transportation officials will take vessel collisions into consideration in designing new Blatnik Bridge

DULUTH – As transportation officials work on rebuilding a major bridge connecting this city and Superior, Wis., in upcoming years, mitigating the risk of a vessel ramming into the structure — like the catastrophic collision between a cargo ship and the Francis Scott Key Bridge — is at the forefront of plans.

The Blatnik Bridge, one of two main over-water arteries between the port cities, is scheduled for a rebuild that will begin in upcoming years. The four-lane, 1½-mile span was built in 1961, carries 33,000 vehicles per day over the St. Louis River and is a major route for commerce. The project was finalized when President Joe Biden announced a $1 billion federal grant — part of his $1 trillion infrastructure package — in January.

“Increasing safety on the Blatnik Bridge to further mitigate this specific risk will be a core component of Blatnik design work,” the Minnesota Department of Transportation said in a statement when asked about the likelihood of something similar happening here.

In Baltimore, a cargo ship lost power and ran into a bridge support, causing parts of the 1.6-mile structure to collapse into the Patapsco River early Tuesday. Shipping traffic at the Port of Baltimore immediately stalled — and could be delayed for months. Six construction workers on the bridge who haven’t yet been found are presumed dead in the collision.

The Blatnik Bridge and Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge are the only two bridges in Minnesota that cross navigable waters for ocean-going vessels.

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority works with MnDOT to ensure that marine shipping is taken into consideration in MnDOT designs. This sort of thing can happen anywhere large vessels could come in contact with similar structures, said Jayson Hron of the port authority. It’s not probable, though, he added.

“We’ve had 152 years of commercial shipping here, thankfully, without a tragic incident like this,” he said.

MnDOT said a comprehensive emergency plan is in place should a bridge get hit and require rescue operations. But plans are also in place to prevent a hit and to mitigate the risk of one to the structure. MnDOT said there are 54 bridges that cross navigable waters and that it is aware of two vessel collisions in the past 20 years. The Lexington Bridge in St. Paul had minor damage when it was hit by a barge about 15 years ago, and there were repairs to the concrete on the new Winona Bridge over the Mississippi River when, in 2018, a barge struck a part of it.

A catastrophe similar to Tuesday’s in Baltimore took place on Aug. 1, 2007, when the Interstate 35W bridge gave out during rush hour in Minneapolis.

Staff writer Eder Campuzano contributed to this article.