Local expert weighs in on devastating Baltimore bridge collapse

PITTSBURGH — Six people missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse Tuesday in Baltimore are now considered dead, and efforts have shifted from a search-and-rescue to a recovery mission. The bridge typically carries tens of thousands of people a day and was destroyed within seconds of being hit by a cargo ship in distress.

Photos: Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board arrived within hours of the incident to begin their investigation into how it happened. In its first press conference at the site of the collapse, NTSB investigators mentioned Pittsburgh’s most recent bridge collapse.

“I will just point to our recent investigation of the Fern Hollow Bridge Collapse which took almost two years to get information on inspections and what was and was not done after those inspections and whether there were records or were not records maintained,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “It’s a very meticulous process.”

With the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse still fresh in the minds of Pittsburghers, we asked Dr. Hota GangaRao, director of West Virginia University’s Constructed Facilities Center, if this kind of collapse could happen here. He said it could if a heavy barge or ship hit a bridge at a high rate of speed.

“The mass of the barge and the speed – the rate of speed, meaning acceleration,” he said. “Some of the Pittsburgh bridges are like 100 years old or plus, so they are vulnerable.”

Currently, GangaRao said bridge designers can use their own discretion and are not required to install a bumper system on bridges that could minimize damage in case of a collision. He believes the tragedy in Baltimore will lead lawmakers to consider making those kinds of preventative, albeit expensive, measures a requirement.

“I don’t want to say any bumper can 100 percent alleviate a failure, no. It can help a lot, but not 100 percent full proof,” GangaRao said. “At the very minimum, I expect that there will be some type of congressional legislation to try to account for these barge-related hits.”

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