Tag Archives: Francis Scott Key Bridge

2024 Bridge Disasters Actual and Pending

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Bridge accidents is a common theme this year. The most significant was the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024 after being struck by a malfunctioning container ship. However, other accidents happened to bridges in the Pittsburgh area. Weeks after Baltimore’s bridge collapse, the Sewickley Bridge, a few miles downriver from Pittsburgh, closed for a day after being struck by runaway barges (WTAE, April 14, 2024). Then, in August, a dump truck struck an unused railroad bridge in Pittsburgh. The road underneath closed temporarily while the obsolete and now damaged bridge was removed. The adjacent, active railroad bridge remains. (WTAE, August 16, 2024)

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh continues to preemptively close bridges or restrict traffic to reduce the chances of another bridge collapse. The most recent of these is the full closure of Panther Hollow Bridge announced October 19, 2024, with immediate effect. It is called a temporary closure while the City of Pittsburgh figures out what it needs to do for the bridge. (Mayor’s Press Release, October 19, 2024) Other recent “temporary closures” of Pittsburgh bridges have turned into sporadic periods of closure and opening (Swindell Bridge) or a years-long closure while funding is found and repairs are implemented (Charles Anderson Bridge).

Another common restriction we are seeing in Pittsburgh bridges is sidewalk closures while vehicular traffic remains unaffected. Pittsburgh’s South Negley Avenue bridge is one of the bridges in town that is poised as a pending disaster. In acknowledging the structural issues of this bridge, the west sidewalk was closed in 2022. However, I noticed that by July 2023, the barriers on that sidewalk were pushed aside and it wasn’t clear if that was an official move or if pedestrians had taken matters into their own hands. Then, in June 2024, first the eastern sidewalk was closed with a temporary protected pedestrian pathway installed in the car lane (Mayor’s Press Release, June 6, 2024) and then, a week later, the western sidewalk was again closed (Mayor’s Press Release, June 17, 2024). Why this “safety” measure is helpful is beyond me as this bridge has been earmarked for replacement for years pending funding and access issues. Also, the Smithfield Street Bridge sidewalk always has rusted out holes showing the river flowing below that eventually get patched without closing the sidewalk.

Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

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One of my readers alerted me to last night’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. While I’ve never walked that bridge, since the collapse of Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge, which I have walked, the scope of my blog has expanded to highlight the fragile nature of the infrastructure we rely on daily in the United States (and across the pond). According to the reports coming in and the video of the accident, a loaded cargo liner crashed into a pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing the structure to collapse. The Baltimore Sun (March 26, 2024) and Washington Post (March 26, 2024) articles are my primary sources for learning of the accident.

Unlike Pittsburgh’s disaster which was due to a deteriorated portion of the bridge finally giving way after years of deferred maintenance, no blame has yet been placed on any structural unsoundness of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The ship that ran into it is another story. Apparently, it recently was flagged as having questionable issues in its navigation system. The current understanding is that the ship lost power and control of steering, issued a mayday alert, and crashed into the bridge pier. In the early analysis of what happened, there are questions as to why various things were not handled differently to have prevented the collision. For example:

  • Why were there not more structures in the water to deflect any ships away from the bridge pier?
  • Why didn’t the tugboats continue with the ship until it cleared not just the harbor, but the bridge as well?
  • Why wasn’t the bridge built with redundancies so that even if one of the piers were knocked out, the bridge could still stand?

Much like deferred maintenance (of bridges and ships), I suspect that money is at the root of the reason why not for items one and three above. It may also be a factor in why the tugboats don’t travel farther down the river with the ships.

The City of Baltimore and State of Maryland have declared a state of emergency. Pledges are being made to rebuild the bridge quickly, including President Biden promising the money to rebuild. It may be interesting to compare the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge against Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge. While of significantly different scales, both bridges are considered major transportation arteries that the local region cannot afford to be without any longer than absolutely necessary. Will the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild include similar time saving measures of purely utilitarian design and of concurrent design/build phases?