One factor that a lot of people in this discussion are missing is that buildings are primarily built to resist vertical forces, because gravity is by far the la

One factor that a lot of people in this discussion are missing is that buildings are primarily built to resist vertical forces, because gravity is by far the largest force any building (or bridge) ever experiences. Having a large force strike perpendicular to gravity is just not something it's designed for at all. All it ever has to handle in the form of force from that direction is wind, and that's absolutely nothing compared to a fully laden container ship hitting it.