At around 10 am on Wednesday, a ship and the Pelican Island bridge pillar collided in Galveston, Texas, causing petrol to pour into the waters near active delivery channels and halting the only road leading to the tiny neighboring island.
One person was thrown into the water from the vehicle during the incident, but he was immediately saved with no reported injuries, according to Galveston County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Ray Nolen, who said the incident caused pieces of the bridge connecting Galveston to Pelican Island to crumble onto the barge.
A tug operator lost command of the two ships he was pushing due to strong tides and high tide, according to David Flores, a bridge director with the Galveston County Navigation District.
” The present was pretty bad, and the sea was high”, Torres said. ” He lost it”.
The incident took place in a less popular canal, and experts believe it was unlikely to have an impact on the port along the Texas shoreline, which are significant hubs for global trade. On the other side of Galveston Island’s famous shores, which attracted millions of tourists each year, is located Pelican Island.
Pelican Island, a little island stretching only a few miles, is home to Texas A&, M University at Galveston, a large factory, and several industrial facilities. At the time of the incident, fewer than 200 people were on the school campus, and all were finally allowed to leave via the gate. The sea and sea research academy announced that it would be closed through at least Friday.
Students on campus were permitted to stay, but school officials urged those who left to be prepared to” remain of school for an unknown period of time.”
The tug involved in the Texas incident was pushing bunker bars, which are ship fuel bars, according to David Flores.
According to Galveston County director Spencer Lewis, the ship, owned by Martin Petroleum, has a capacity of 30, 000 liters, but the amount of fuel that leaked into the sea remains unclear. About 6.5 miles ( 10.5 kilometers ) of the waterway were closed due to the spill, he added.
The region, which is miles from the busy Houston Ship Channel and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, frequently experiences ship visitors and is a big shipping hub for ocean-going vessels.
Marcia Burns, a professor of maritime transportation at the University of Houston, stated that despite the spill’s negative effects on the environment, it is unlikely that the event will result in any economic ramifications in the region.
” Because Pelican Island is a smaller site, which is not in the heart of corporate activities, then the effect is not as devastating”, Burns said.
” It’s a somewhat smaller impact”, she added.
The bridge, which opened in 1960, was rated as” Poor” according to the Federal Highway Administration’s 2023 National Bridge Inventory as of last June. The ranking is based on the condition of personal parts, with the deck, superstructure, base or tunnel absorbing live traffic weight being rated as” Poor”.
This rating assesses various components ‘ conditions, with the deck deemed to be in” Satisfactory Condition”, the substructure in” Fair Condition”, and the superstructure, responsible for bearing live traffic loads, rated as” Poor” for the Pelican Island Causeway Bridge.
The gate replacement job was supposed to cost$ 94 million, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, in the summer of 2025. The bridge’s designer had already spent more than$ 12 million on maintenance and repairs over the previous ten years, so the company made it clear that it was about to end its useful life and need to be replaced.
The ministry claimed that the bridge has “reached the finish of its design duration, and needs to be replaced in documents provided during a online public meeting next month.”
The bridge’s main steel span measures 164 feet ( 50 meters ) and was last inspected in December 2021, according to federal data. After the Federal Highway Administration compiles the data, it is unclear whether a state examination occurred.
The gate had an average daily traffic of about 9, 100 cars and trucks, based on a 2011 measure.
Six development workers died in a March 26 incident that occurred just days after a cargo ship and a help row of the Francis Key Bridge in Baltimore collided.
( With inputs from agencies )
