When the Dali containership struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, the deadly collapse triggered an NTSB investigation into U.S. infrastructure. The safety agency wanted to see if other bridges could be susceptible to similar strikes.
About two weeks ago, the NTSB identified 68 bridges across 19 states that should conduct a vulnerability assessment.
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After the Key Bridge collapsed, an NTSB investigation found that it was nearly 30 times above the acceptable risk threshold for critical or essential bridges, a metric set by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
The 68 bridges NTSB flagged were designed before AASHTO guidance was established and don't have a current vulnerability assessment.
The NTSB isn't saying that these bridges will collapse; it merely wants the 30 bridge owners to evaluate whether they are above acceptable risk levels. If the risk level is high, the NTSB asks the owners to develop and implement a comprehensive risk reduction plan.
AASHTO created the vulnerability assessment calculation for new bridges in 1991 in response to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse in Florida.
Since 1994, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has required new bridges to minimize the risk of a catastrophic bridge collapse from a vessel collision.
The NTSB found that if the Maryland Transportation Authority had conducted a vulnerability assessment on the Key Bridge, it could have been proactive in reducing the bridge's risk of collapse.
Neither the FHWA nor AASHTO can require a bridge owner to complete a vulnerability assessment for a bridge designed before the release of the 1991 guidelines.
The list (included below) has some pretty notable structures, including the Golden Gate Bridge in California, built in 1937; the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida, built in 1986; the Talmadge Bridge in Georgia, built in 1991; Leo Frigo Bridge in Green Bay, Wisconsin built 1979 and Chicago's Skyway bridge built in 1958.
New York topped the list with 13 bridges, including the Brooklyn Bridge, which was built in 1883, as well as the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. Louisiana had the second most bridges with eight and seven bridges were flagged in California.
The NTSB has recommended that an interdisciplinary team of experts be established to provide guidance and help bridge owners evaluate and reduce risk, which could mean infrastructure improvements or operational changes.
A list of U.S. bridges with unknown levels of collapse risk from a vessel collision:
California
- Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
- Carquinez Bridge
- Benicia-Martinez Bridge
- Antioch Bridge Bay
- San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
- Coronado Bridge
- Golden Gate Bridge Golden Gate Bridge
Delaware
- Summit Bridge
- Saint Georges Bridge
- Reedy Point Bridge
Florida
- Sunshine Skyway Bridge
- Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge (Dames Point Bridge)
Georgia
- Talmadge Bridge
Illinois
- Chicago Skyway Calumet River Bridge
Louisiana
- Huey P. Long Bridge
- Greater New Orleans Bridge
- Israel LaFleur Bridge
- Crescent City Connection Bridge
- Hale Boggs (Luling) Bridge
- Horace Wilkinson Bridge
- Gramercy (Veterans Memorial) Bridge
- Sunshine Bridge
Maryland
- William Preston Lane Jr. (Bay) Bridge (eastbound)
- William Preston Lane Jr. (Bay) Bridge (westbound)
- Chesapeake City Bridge
Massachusetts
- Tobin Bridge (southbound upper)
- Tobin Bridge (northbound lower)
- Bourne Bridge
- Sagamore Bridge
Michigan
- Mackinac Bridge
New Hampshire
- Memorial Bridge
New Jersey
- Commodore Barry Bridge
- Vincent R. Casciano (Newark Bay) Bridge
New York
- Verrazano Narrows Bridge (eastbound)
- Verrazano Narrows Bridge (westbound)
- Brooklyn Bridge
- Manhattan Bridge
- Williamsburg Bridge
- Newburgh-Beacon Bridge (eastbound)
- Newburgh-Beacon Bridge (westbound)
- Rip Van Winkle Bridge
- Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge
- George Washington Bridge
- Outerbridge Crossing Bridge
- Seaway International Bridge
- Thousand Islands Bridge
Ohio
- CUY-00490-0010 (I-490) Bridge
- CUY-00002-1441 (Main Avenue) Bridge
- CUY-00006-1456 (Detroit Avenue) Bridge
- CUY-00010-1613 (Carnegie Avenue) Bridge
- LUC-01W02-0002 (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial) Bridge
- LUC-00002-1862 (Anthony Wayne) Bridge
Oregon
- Astoria-Megler Bridge
- St. Johns Bridge
Pennsylvania
- Walt Whitman Bridge
- Benjamin Franklin Bridge
- Betsy Ross Bridge
- Delaware River Turnpike Bridge
Rhode Island
- Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge
Texas
- Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge
- Sidney Sherman Bridge
- Rainbow Bridge
- Veterans Memorial Bridge
- Hartman Bridge (eastbound)
- Hartman Bridge (westbound)
- GulfGate Bridge
Washington
- Lewis and Clark Bridge
Wisconsin
- Leo Frigo Bridge
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