I had intended to do some serious traipsing this weekend in and around Frick Park to see what kind of angles and views I could get on the site of the bridge collapse into Fern Hollow. Unfortunately, a foot injury during the week has limited my mobility to within a short range of my car. Fences and construction tape block unauthorized people from getting closer than the intersection of Forbes and Braddock on the west side of the site.

Below are updates on the activity inspired by or related to the bridge collapse, some of which follow-up on the activity identified a week after the collapse:

• UpstreamPGH is concerned about and monitoring the environmental impacts of the collapse and reconstruction on Fern Hollow Creek and its ecosystem. (Post-Gazette article, February 11, 2022)
• City Council extended the Mayor’s Declaration of Disaster Emergency through May 2, 2022. (City Council Resolution)
• The National Transportation Safety Board investigation posted investigation details on February 7 describing what happened in the collapse based on the evidence reviewed so far. No probable cause has been determined yet. It is believed that the collapse started at the west end.
• The City’s legislation on establishing the Commission on Infrastructure Asset Reporting and Investment is scheduled for council’s standing committee meeting this week. (City Council pending ordinance)
• A related piece of legislation to establish public reporting procedures on city infrastructure by the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure was also heard and amended in council last week, but a new date has not been set for moving this legislation forward yet. (City Council pending ordinance)
• The cause of the shift was identified in the bridge that Port Authority closed a week after the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse. It is believed that water got into the superstructure and with the freeze-thaw weather we’ve been having expanded and contracted causing the shift. (WPXI news article, February 10, 2022)
• The City of McKeesport sped up the reinspection and closure of the Versailles Ave Bridge due to the increased risk from the fluctuating freeze-thaw temperatures. (WTAE news article, February 11, 2022)
• The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has order the inspection of 5 bridges across the state that share the same design as the Fern Hollow Bridge (WTAE news article, February 2, 2022):
  • Canon-McMillan Alumni Bridge in North Strabane
  • Shenango Road Bridge in Beaver
  • Philip J Fahy Memorial Bridge in Bethlehem (walked & posted)
  • McCallum Street Bridge in Philadelphia
  • Murray Ave Bridge over Beechwood Blvd in Pittsburgh (walked, but not posted yet)
• The final of the Three Sisters Bridges, the Roberto Clemente/6th Street Bridge, will undergo its renovation starting on February 14, 2022, through December 2023. (WTAE news article, February 2, 2022)
• Allegheny County (the owner of the Three Sisters Bridges) has plans to resolve 25 of its 27 poor condition bridges by 2024 with seven bridges scheduled to be removed or replaced this year. (Post-Gazette article, February 7, 2022)