Frankly, I'm amazed that they weren't already, in this case.
I live in a city where a bridge collapsed (partly, different structure) in the mid-70s, in almost the exact same way. Death toll was a bit higher, too, because different time of day, less alternative options for the same route (at that point), and because a few cars drove off the gap.
As a result, now, and ever since, pilot tugs are always required, when a ship of that size enters or leaves the port, or any other large-scale industrial port, pretty much anywhere in the country, and whenever a boat of that size goes through said rebuilt bridge, the entire thing is closed to transit while it crosses, until it's clear, just to be safe...
So... I guess I just assumed that was the standard everywhere, but evidently not...
To be fair though, we had both Granville (one of the worst bridge collapses in a Western country in the last 60 years) and Westgate happen in Aus, too, which were huge losses of life, comparatively, so I guess we learned the hard way from those, umm, accidents...
Frankly, I'm amazed that they weren't already, in this case.
I live in a city where a bridge collapsed (partly, different structure) in the mid-70s, in almost the exact same way. Death toll was a bit higher, too, because different time of day, less alternative options for the same route (at that point), and because a few cars drove off the gap.
As a result, now, and ever since, pilot tugs are always required, when a ship of that size enters or leaves the port, or any other large-scale industrial port, pretty much anywhere in the country, and whenever a boat of that size goes through said rebuilt bridge, the entire thing is closed to transit while it crosses, until it's clear, just to be safe...
So... I guess I just assumed that was the standard everywhere, but evidently not...
To be fair though, we had both Granville (one of the worst bridge collapses in a Western country in the last 60 years) and Westgate happen in Aus, too, which were huge losses of life, comparatively, so I guess we learned the hard way from those, umm, accidents...
In the US a lot of that is left to the discretion of the individual army corps of engineers districts to figure out for themselves.
In Green Bay, lake freighters can pass under the I-43 bridge and through downtown drawbridges without escort.
But just an hour north at Sturgeon Bay, they have to be met by a tug at Sherwood Point and guided in the last three miles.