NTSB Urges Bridge Safety Reviews After Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Urgent Safety Recommendation for Bridges

• 📌 The NTSB has issued an urgent safety recommendation for 68 bridges in the U.S. to be evaluated for collapse risk from vessel strikes.
• ⚠️ This recommendation follows the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge nearly one year prior, caused by a cargo ship strike.

The Need for Risk Assessment

• 💡 The NTSB emphasizes the need for a risk assessment, a calculation recommended since 1991, to determine vulnerability to vessel impacts.
• 🌉 Bridges like the Golden Gate, Coronado, Brooklyn, and Chesapeake Bay Bridge are among those requiring evaluation, serving millions daily.
• 🎯 The NTSB believes that simply not knowing the vulnerability of these significant bridges presents an urgent safety risk.

Why Assessments Haven't Been Done

• 📜 The recommended assessment criteria, developed by the Association of Transportation Authorities, is not a Federal Regulation.
• 🚫 This means there has been no mandate or enforcement mechanism for bridges built before 1991 to undergo these assessments.
• 📈 Had the Maryland Transportation Authority performed this calculation, they would have known the Francis Scott Key Bridge was 30 times over the acceptable risk threshold.

Proactive Protective Measures

• 💰 Some authorities are proactively investing in bridge protection, with one project spending nearly $100 million to safeguard against potential cargo ship impacts.
• ✅ This highlights a growing awareness and effort to protect critical infrastructure from catastrophic events.