Six bridges that span either tidal waterways or major rivers in the five boroughs have been tagged as in need of evaluation for levels of risk collapse from a vessel collision as part of a nationwide call to safeguard bridges from vessel strikes following last year’s fatal collapse of Baltimore’s Scott Key Bridge
The local bridges, part of the 68 nationally that made the report prepared by the National Traffic Safety Board, include the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge the George Washington Bridge, the Outerbridge Crossing, and the Verrazano Narrows Bridges
Jennifer Homendy, NTSB board chair, noted to the media at a March 20 press conference, “What we are telling bridge owners is that they need to know the risk and determine what actions they need to take to ensure safety.” But she emphasized that the report was not claiming the bridges were in imminent danger of collapse, only that risk assesments need to be done to ensure they are up to standards.
Locally, three separate agencies oversee the bridges in question: the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the MTA and the NYC Department of Transportation.
The NTSB released its report of the factors that caused that tragic container ship strike and total collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 20, 2024 which left six people dead. The tragedy a year ago was not the first time this kind of accident happened; a previous bridge strike occurred May 9, 1980 when a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier collided with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge spanning Tampa Bay, causing 1,400 feet of the bridge to collapse upon impact, sending vehicles plummeting into the bay 165 feet below, killing 35 people.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation (AASHTO) established bridge guidance in 1991, as a result of the Tampa Bay incident, and revised that in 2009.
The NTSB said that the 68 bridges nationally which are mentioned in the report are not certain to collapse, but recommended that the collective 30 bridge owners in question evaluate whether the bridges to make sure they meet the AASHTO standards of acceptable levels of risk by implementing a “comprehensive risk reduction plan” if it’s determined that a bridge has a risk level above the threshold.
Each of the six NYC bridges, as well as the 62 other bridges contained in the report were constructed before the 1991 AASHTO guidance was established and all see many huge ocean-going vessels passing under them on a daily basis.
AASHTO, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association representing highway and transportation departments in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Its directives are not federal laws or policies, but ways to coordinate state laws and policies in the field of transportation.
The recommended new evaluations would include the response of concrete bridge columns subjected to blast loads, blast-resistant design, risks exposed to structural bridge components–bridge towers, cable stays, and suspender ropes, non-explosive cutting devices, collisions or impacts, and fire.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Catherine Sheridan commented upon the NTSB’s report. “All of the MTA’s vehicular bridges are routinely inspected, undergo regular maintenance and repairs, and have been evaluated based on the current AASHTO Guide Specifications for Vessel Collision Design of Highway Bridges.” The agency is the successor to the Triborough Bridge & Tunneal Authority which was formed originally to fund the construction of the Triborough Bridge (now Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) connecting Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens and the Mid-town Tunnel, connecting Manhattan and Queens. Of the nine bridges and tunnels MTA Bridges and Tunnels control, only the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, the nation’s largest suspension bride, was listed in the NTSB report.
She continued “The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge exceeds the AASHTO guidelines. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge towers are further protected by rock islands, known as rip-rap, that would cause any vessel approaching it to run aground well before it came into contact with the bridge structure.”
The DOT said only that it will study the report’s recommendations regarding its three bridges mentioned in the report (Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg).
“We will follow up with all of the bridge owners. Over time, we will follow up with federal highway,” said Homendy. “So we expect action, and we have an entire team that follows up on those recommendations and will do so.”