https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-pier-protection-2557307101e6094b43fef70c30eef808

When a 900-foot container ship struck the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in 2007, the span stood firm and no one died, either on the ship or the highway above.

The bridge's supports were protected by a fendering system of concrete and other materials that was installed to absorb such strikes. And it's now prompting the question: Could such a system — or others like it — have saved Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge?