Maryland officials failed to test Key Bridge vulnerability

The Maryland Transportation Authority failed to judge the Francis Scott Key Bridge for vulnerability and danger because of collision, the Nationwide Transportation Security Board introduced Thursday.

The March 26, 2024, collapse of the span may doubtlessly have been prevented if the MDTA had reviewed the danger and brought corrective motion, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy mentioned throughout a press convention Thursday, almost one yr after the tragedy.

Homendy referred to an evaluation offered by the American Affiliation of State Freeway and Transportation Officers created in 1991 because of the collapse of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, Florida, in 1980. AASHTO’s vulnerability evaluation calculator for brand new bridges on the Nationwide Freeway System evaluates the extent of danger for collapse if a span have been struck by a vessel.

Although the Key Bridge was completed in 1977, AASHTO says that its calculator is not only for brand new bridge development and urges house owners to judge present spans constructed earlier than the steerage.

However earlier than the Key Bridge collapsed, Maryland officers had by no means carried out the evaluation, so the NTSB needed to analysis the danger after the very fact. The MDTA has nonetheless not assessed the close by Chesapeake Bay Bridge, inbuilt 1948, for danger, Homendy mentioned.

“There’s no excuse,” Homendy mentioned.

Upon assessing the span, the NTSB found the Key Bridge’s danger was almost 30 occasions better than the appropriate threshold for important or important bridges, Homendy mentioned.

“We have been very shocked that [the risk numbers] have been excessive,” she mentioned. “Nevertheless it’s one thing MDTA may have recognized and may have recognized.”

Nationwide danger

As well as, Homendy mentioned the NTSB recommends that the owners of 68 bridges throughout 19 states carry out vulnerability assessments and take protecting measures if essential. The bridges have been all constructed earlier than the 1991 AASHTO steerage was established and haven’t undergone vulnerability evaluation primarily based on current vessel site visitors. Due to this fact, they’ve an unknown degree of danger of collapse from a collision.

These spans embody the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York Metropolis and the brand new Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

She emphasised that singling out these bridges doesn’t imply that they’re routinely harmful, merely that their danger must be calculated. By the identical token, different bridges should not routinely protected from potential hurt, Homendy mentioned, as she cautioned vigilance.

The Key Bridge collapsed when the cargo ship Dali collided with one of the span’s piers. Had the evaluation been carried out, Homendy indicated that the MDTA may have invested in dolphins or different protections to drive fast-moving sea vessels away from the important assist for the bridge.