Bridges in the Philadelphia region under dozens for reviews to Key Bridge Collapse: NTSB

Baltimore (WPVI) – Almost a year since the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, after a container ship had hit one of his pillars, the national transportation Safety Board recommends that the owners of almost 70 bridges in the USA, including some in the Philadelphia region, carry out susceptible ratings of collapse risk through a vascular collision.

Such an assessment could have prevented the deadly Key Bridge Collapse, said NTSB chairman Jennifer Homendy on Thursday.

See also: operator of the ship that destroyed the key bridge from Baltimore to pay almost 102 million US dollars: Doj

The 68 bridges that the NTSB recommends for the evaluation are those that were designed before setting up the guidelines and have no current susceptibility assessment, said the NTSB.

These include iconic landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in California, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Virginia, Brooklyn Bridge in New York and the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan.

“Today’s report does not suggest that the 68 bridges collect together,” said the NTSB in a press release on Thursday. “The NTSB recommends that these 30 bridge owners rate whether the bridges are above the acceptable risk of Aashto. The NTSB recommended that bridge owners develop and implement a comprehensive risk reduction plan.

Read more: Here is what a professor of Drexel University surprised about the Baltimore Bridge collapse

The Delaware River Turnpike Bridge, the Burlington Township, Burlington County with Bristol Township, Bucks County, connects, is on the list of NTSB.

Like the DelaWare River Port Authority, who manages the bridges of Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross.

According to NTSB:

• Delaware River Turnpike Bridge (built in 1956): Critical/essential




• Walt Whitman Bridge (built in 1957): Critical/essential




• Benjamin Franklin Bridge (built in 1926): Critical/essential




• Betsy Ross Bridge (built in 1976): Typical




• Commodore Barry Bridge (built in 1974): Typical

However, there is a big difference between Baltimores key bridge and one of the bridges that span the Delaware river.

“All of our bridges have protection systems to prevent ships from beating them,” said John Hanson, CEO of the Delaware River Port Authority, previously Action News.

According to Hanson, the main difference in the Delaware River near the bridge support structures is located, which are called dolphins.

“When you talk about the Betsy Ross Bridge, we have concrete fines that are protected against ships that prevent a ship from beating the pier,” said Hanson.

If the Maryland Transportation Authority had carried out a susceptibility assessment, it would have “known the risk and took measures to protect the key bridge,” said Homeendy during a press conference in which the recommendation was announced.

“If they had done that, the collapse could have been prevented,” she said, adding that the key bridge was almost 30 -over the acceptable risk wave value for critical or essential bridges.

Homendy said that the MDTA could not provide the NTSB the data that is necessary to carry out the agency’s own safety inheritance.

“We asked you for this data,” said Homendy. “You didn’t. We had to develop this data with the help of our federal partners at the Federal Highway Administration.”

Relatives: Families of Baltimore Bridge breakdown victims

In the early morning of March 26, 2024, the container ship Dali met one of the pillars on the key bridge, causing the bridge to collapse and killed six construction workers, filled the potholes. Two other workers survived the incident.

The crash influenced entry into the port of Baltimore for weeks when the debris blocked entry for other ships. Dozens of federal, state and local authorities responded to remove about 50,000 tons of steel, concrete and asphalt from the canal and from the dali.

A preliminary report that the NTSB published in May showed that the DALI experienced two power consumption failures 10 hours before the collision, which plunged part of a bridge range.

The NTSB said on Thursday that the final report on the Key Bridge Collapse would be released in autumn.

The full list of bridge owners who receive the NTSB recommendation contains the following:

• The fee authority of the Bay Area




• Caltrans




• Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transport District




• Us Army Corps of Engineers




• Florida Ministry of Transport




• Georgia Department of Transportation




• Skyway Concession Company LLC




• Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad




• Maryland Transportation Authority




• Massachusetts Department of Transportation




• Mackinac Bridge Authority




• New Hampshire Department of Transportation




• Delaware River Port Authority




• New Jersey Turnpike Authority




• MTA bridges and tunnels




• New York Ministry of Transport




• New York State Bridge Authority




• Ogdensburg Bridge and port authority




• Port authority of New York and New Jersey




• Seway International Bridge Corporation




• Thousand Islands Bridge Authority




• Ohio Department of Transportation




• Oregon Ministry of Transport




• Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and New Jersey Turnpike Authority




• Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority




• Harris County Toll Road Authority




• Texas Department of Transportation




• Washington State Department of Transportation




• Wisconsin Department of Transportation

ABC News contributed to this report.