Bay Area bridges due for collapse risk assessment in the event of ship strike: NTSB report
File Photo: The Golden Gate Bridge. (Duncan Sinfield/KTVU.)
OAKLAND, Calif. - A new marine investigation report by the National Transportation Safety Board on safeguarding bridges from vessel strikes came out on Thursday.
The report recommends that bridge owners of 68 bridges in 19 states conduct vulnerability assessments to determine the risk of bridges collapsing from ship strikes. Some of those bridges are here in the Bay Area.
This report comes about one year after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and is part of the ongoing investigation into that bridge's collapse. That incident had many questioning whether something similar could happen in the Bay Area.
Bay Area bridges
Of the 68 bridges listed, six are in the Bay Area. They are the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Carquinez Bridge, Benicia-Martinez Bridge, Antioch Bridge, San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, all owned by the Bay Area Toll Authority, as well as the Golden Gate Bridge, owned by the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District.
The NTSB said the report does not suggest the bridges are certain to collapse in the event of a vessel strike, but an assessment of the risk is due. All of the Bay Area bridges listed were built between 1937 and 1978.
San Diego's Coronado Bridge, owned by Caltrans, is the only other California bridge to have made the list. The Bay Bridge was notably absent from the list.
Dig deeper:
The report says the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) classifies bridges over navigable waterways as either critical/essential or typical. Bridges considered critical/essential serve important links in the strategic highway network.
All but two of the Bay Area bridges listed fall into the critical/essential category. The Antioch and San Mateo-Hayward bridges are in the typical category.
The owners of the bridges are encouraged to evaluate whether the bridges are above the AASHTO acceptable level of risk.
- Read the full Marine Investigation Report
The NTSB's investigation of the deadly Key Bridge collapse, after it was struck by a container ship, found that the bridge was nearly 30 times above the acceptable risk level for a critical/essential bridge. Had an assessment been done prior to the ship strike and collapse, the NTSB said they would have had information to "proactively reduce the bridge’s risk of a collapse and loss of lives associated with a vessel collision with the bridge."
What's next:
The NTSB recommends the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers establish a team to offer guidance and assistance to the bridge owners in evaluating and reducing the risk of bridge collapse. This guidance may include improvements to infrastructure and operational changes, the safety board said.
The report includes appendices of all 68 bridges in the 19 different states.
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