doer1984's comments

Anyone know about backup steering power on these vessels? I know they typically keep emergency generators, but does this provide adequate steering power?

Simply bulking up the ground around the piers with loose fill or monolithic concrete would have had the ship run aground; at 9mph (the recorded impact speed) the ship would have slowed to a stop within several yards, and suffered minor damage, maybe would have required being tugged back into clear waters. Running aground puts the majority of impact into a downward force absorbed by the earth. It's hard to build a bridge pier that will withstand 200,000 tons of direct impact, no matter how slowly that's moving.

Ironically, simply bulking up the ground around the piers would have had the ship run aground; at 8 knots the ship would have slowed to a stop within several yards, and suffered minor damage, maybe would have required being tugged back into clear waters. Running aground puts the majority of impact into a downward force absorbed by the earth. It's hard to build a bridge pier that will withstand 200,000 tons of direct impact, no matter how slowly that's moving.