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Dive brief:
- The structural problems that led to the collapse of Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge in January 2022 were the result of the city’s failure to respond to several red flags during inspections, according to a Feb. 21 report. National Transportation Safety Board Press release.
- The NTSB, reiterating its conclusions of May 2023, found that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was aware of the structure’s problems and failed to perform regular maintenance to fix those problems. However, the findings laid the blame squarely at the city’s feet, whose failure to act on those recommendations, the NTSB said in its synopsis reportcaused the collapse.
- Additionally, PennDOT contractors working on behalf of the city conducted inspections that did not meet published guidelines from the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State and Transportation Officials. Because the span was not properly evaluated, it remained open until it failed, officials said.
Diving knowledge:
The collapse of the stretch — which occurred when the transverse connection plate in the southwest leg of the bridge failed due to extensive corrosion and a loss of section — resulted in the injuries of 10 motorists, four of whom were taken to the hospital. The depth of the damage in some sections was so severe that potholes formed.
“Had the City of Pittsburgh taken adequate steps to repair or strengthen the missing section of the bridge leg components critical to the fracture, the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge could have been prevented,” he wrote the agency in its synopsis.
After its collapse, the bridge became a political issue, especially for President Joe Biden, who visited it several times and used it to promote the Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act of 1.2 trillion dollars, which covered the $25.3 billion reparation. Biden was scheduled to visit Pittsburgh to deliver remarks in favor of the legislation on the day it collapsed.
“The Fern Hollow Bridge disaster should serve as a wake-up call that we cannot take our infrastructure for granted,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in the statement. “Only through diligent attention to inspection, maintenance and repair can we ensure that the roads, bridges and tunnels we cross every day are safe for the traveling public. Lives depend on it.”
It is not an isolated situation either: there are spaces all over the country different states of deterioration. Chris Garrell, chief bridge engineer for the National Steel Bridge Alliance, told Construction Dive in July that maintenance was a root problem.
“This is like having a leg injury that you never seek medical attention for,” Garrell said. “Eventually it’s going to get bad, you’re going to lose your leg and you’re going to fall.”
Omaha, Nebraska-based HDR and New Kensington, Pennsylvania-based Swank Construction repaired the span, which reopened in December 2022.
