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In 2007, when a 274-meter-long container ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, it stood firm.
2007年，当一艘274米长的集装箱船撞上旧金山-奥克兰海湾大桥时，大桥岿然不动。
No one died, either on the ship or the road above.
无论是船上还是桥上的公路上，都没有人死亡。
The bridge's supports were protected by a fendering system of materials that were designed to soften such a strike.
一套由各种材料组成的防护系统保护了桥墩，这一防护系统的设计就是为了减轻这样的撞击。
Now, people are asking if such a system, or other safety measures, could have saved Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge.
现在，人们不禁要问，这样的防护系统或其他安全措施能否挽救巴尔的摩的弗朗西斯·斯科特·基大桥（简称基桥）。
The Key Bridge recently collapsed after the container ship Dali lost power and struck it.
最近，达利号集装箱货船失去动力，撞击了基桥，导致桥梁坍塌。
Sherif El-Tawil is a University of Michigan engineering professor.
谢里夫·埃尔塔维尔（Sherif El-Tawil）是密歇根大学的工程学教授。
He said there are several safety measures that "would have made a huge difference" had they been in place for the Baltimore bridge.
他说，如果基桥采取了几项安全措施的话，“情况就会大不一样”。
El-Tawil said a fendering system could have softened the 300-meter-long ship's strike.
埃尔塔维尔表示，一套防护系统本可以缓和这艘300米货船的撞击力度。
The system includes long tubes called pilings attached to the river bottom that would have helped move the container ship away from the bridge.
该系统包括一些称为桩的长管，这些桩固定在河床上，本可以有助于将集装箱船从桥梁处推开。
Another possible protection could have been an island of rocks around the bridge's supports.
另一个可能的保护措施是围绕桥墩设置一圈岩石岛。
"It may seem like a very large force," El-Tawil said of the cargo ship.
埃尔塔维尔在谈到货船时说：“这次撞击看起来可能是一股非常大的力量。”
"But I think you can design around it, either through a protective system or by designing the bridge itself to have massive towers."
“但我认为可以通过设置防护系统或者给桥梁设计巨大的塔楼来解决这个问题。”
Such protections are being questioned after the disaster, which took the lives of six workers on the Key Bridge.
这场灾难夺去了基桥上六名工人的生命之后，人们对这类保护措施提出了质疑。
Experts say the 47-year-old bridge did not appear to have the protections that are common among newer bridges.
专家称，这座已有47年历史的大桥似乎并不具备新型桥梁常见的保护措施。
The incident is raising questions about how much money American taxpayers are willing to spend to protect against these rare but deadly accidents.
这一事件引发了人们的疑问：美国纳税人愿意花多少钱来防止这些罕见但致命的事故。
And not everyone agrees the Key Bridge could have been saved.
并不是所有人都认为大桥本可以避免这场灾难。
Pete Buttigieg is the Transportation Secretary of the U.S.
皮特·布蒂吉格（Pete Buttigieg）是美国交通部长。
He recently said at a White House press conference that there has been a lot of debate about whether any of those protections could have avoided the disaster.
他最近在白宫新闻发布会上说，关于这些保护措施是否可以避免这场灾难，一直存在很多争论。
He said it was a massive strike where the force of about 91,000 metric tons, much larger than a building, hit the bridge.
他说这是一次巨大的撞击，撞击力达到了约9.1万公吨，这比一栋大楼的重量还要大，正是这股力量撞击了桥梁。
Buttigieg did not directly answer a question about whether steps should be taken to protect the nation's bridges.
布蒂吉格没有直接回答是否应该采取措施保护美国桥梁的问题。
But he noted that many bridges have been designed to better protect against strikes since a large truck hit Florida's Sunshine Skyway Bridge in 1980.
但他指出，自1980年一辆大型卡车撞上佛罗里达州的阳光高架桥以来，许多桥梁的设计已经改进，以更好地抵御撞击。
That disaster killed 35 people.
那次灾难造成35人死亡。
Baltimore's Key Bridge opened three years before the disaster in 1977.
巴尔的摩的基桥于1977年投入使用，也就是灾难发生的三年前。
That was a time when container ships were much smaller.
那时的集装箱船要小得多。
In recent years, the ships have grown to carry more containers to save on shipping costs.
近年来，为了节省运输成本，装载更多的集装箱，集装箱船越来越大。
Mark Luther is a professor at the University of South Florida (USF) and a director of the USF Center for Maritime and Port Studies.
马克·路德（Mark Luther）是南佛罗里达大学的教授，也是南佛罗里达大学海事与港口研究中心的主任。
Luther said that to go back and add protections to an existing bridge, like the Key Bridge, would be extremely costly.
路德说，要在现有桥梁（如基桥）上增加保护措施，成本将非常高昂。
He added that to his knowledge no one has done it.
他补充说，据他所知，还没有人这样做过。
Officials, he said, have accepted that there is a risk with bridges that were built in the 70s with what was then the latest technology.
他说，官员们已经认识到，在上世纪70年代采用当时最新技术建造的桥梁存在风险。
Roberto Leon is a Virginia Tech engineering professor.
罗伯特·莱昂（Roberto Leon）是弗吉尼亚理工学院暨州立大学的工程学教授。
He said the technology is available to protect a bridge against a strike with a massive cargo ship like the Dali.
他说，现有技术可以保护桥梁免受像达利号这样的大型货轮的撞击。
But he warned that governments will always be weighing the costs and the risks.
但他警告说，政府始终会权衡成本和风险。
He questioned whether anyone would design protections for such a massive strike.
他质疑是否有人会为如此巨大的撞击力设计保护措施。
He said, "Would you design it for such an enormous load? Because as the load increases, it becomes much more expensive."
他说：“你会针对如此巨大的撞击力设计保护措施吗？因为随着压力的增加，成本也会越来越高。”
I'm Gena Bennett.
吉娜·贝内特为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
