Barges (and other watercraft) collide with stationary objects (which includes bridges) monthly, it's just not usually in the national news and doesn't usually c

Barges (and other watercraft) collide with stationary objects (which includes bridges) monthly, it's just not usually in the national news and doesn't usually cause a lot of damage. For example, from 2001 to 2017 there were 1020 medium/high severity recorded "allision" incidents by just towing vessels/barges. That's over 5 times a month. [1] 10%+ of recreational watercraft accidents are with fixed objects. [2][3] There were 18 bridge collapses (in the US) due to vessel collisions over 53 years (1960 to 2013), so averaging roughly one bridge collapse every 3 years. [4] [1] https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/CG-5PC/INV/docs/documents/2017%20USCG-AWO%20Annual%20Safety%20Report%2031Jul2018.pdf?ver=ibIka2QSncfyhU7UTrdG4A%3D%3D https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/CG-5PC... [page 9, chart 9] [2] https://www.tuscaloosa.com/__aws/media/6553702_bridge-strikes-.pdf https://www.tuscaloosa.com/__aws/media/6553702_bridge-strike... [3] https://www.uscgboating.org/library/accident-statistics/Recreational-Boating-Statistics-2023-Ch2.pdf https://www.uscgboating.org/library/accident-statistics/Recr... [page 7] [4] https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/eesc/bridge/WBES/2013/Session9/9C_3_Knott.pdf https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/eesc/bridge/WBES/2013/Session9/9C_3... [5] https://www.scribd.com/document/550271478/SHIP-AND-BARGE-COLLISIONS-WITH-BRIDGES-OVER-NAVIGABLE-WATERWAYS https://www.scribd.com/document/550271478/SHIP-AND-BARGE-COL...