Section of bridge collapses after struck by rocket vessel

The ocean-going cargo vessel used to transport rocket stages from the manufacturing factory in Alabama to the two primary U.S. launch sites in Florida and California struck a bridge in southern Kentucky Thursday night, causing a section to collapse.

The Eggner's Ferry Bridge, which crosses Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee River, was opened to traffic in 1932.

File image of the Delta Mariner. Credit: ULA video

Known as the Delta Mariner, it is owned and operated by Foss Marine. The shipping firm transports United Launch Alliance Delta 4 and Atlas 5 components to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

The ship was carrying rocket parts to Cape Canaveral from the factory in Decatur, Alabama, when the crash occurred at U.S. Highway 68 and Kentucky Highway 80 over the Tennessee River Thursday at 8:15 p.m. Central Time.

"There are no injuries on the Mariner or the bridge. Initial inspections have shown that the flight hardware being transported was not damaged," ULA said in a statement.
The Coast Guard is conducting an investigation.

Local news reports say there were cars traveling across the bridge when the accident happened, but no one was hurt.

The 312-foot roll-on, roll-off ship was commissioned in 2002.