A number of native bridges have made a nationwide checklist of spans that ought to be checked for his or her danger of collapse from a vessel strike.
The Bourne and Sagamore bridges on the Cape and the Tobin Bridge are on the NTSB checklist as a part of the continued investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board really useful that 68 bridges throughout 19 states ought to be assessed to find out their danger of collapse from a vessel collision.
The getting older Cape bridges have been inbuilt 1935, and companies are working to exchange the spans — that are owned, operated, and maintained by the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers. The undertaking as of final 12 months had obtained $1.7 billion in federal funding.
In the meantime, the Tobin Bridge’s southbound higher and northbound decrease ranges have been inbuilt 1950. Latest restore work on the MassDOT bridge has included tasks to restore metal, take away outdated paint and repaint the bridge.
After the catastrophic bridge collapse in Baltimore final 12 months, the NTSB recognized the necessity to safeguard bridges from vessel strikes. The board discovered that 68 bridges wouldn’t have a present vulnerability evaluation, so there’s an unknown degree of collapse danger from a vessel collision.
“MassDOT received the letter and report last week from the NTSB and is reviewing the NTSB recommendations,” a MassDOT spokesperson stated in a press release. “MassDOT intends on enacting any applicable safety measures that NTSB recommends to ensure that the Commonwealth’s bridges remain safe.
“After the Keys Bridge collapse in Maryland in March 2024, Governor Healey immediately convened experts from MassDOT, the U.S. Coast Guard, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and the Boston Harbor Pilots to discuss the potential for similar risks to the Tobin Bridge and other Massachusetts bridges,” the spokesperson added. “The group confirmed that Massachusetts uses more robust maritime safety practices and that the risk of a similar incident in Massachusetts at the Tobin and other bridges is very low.”
The NTSB discovered that the Key Bridge — which collapsed after being struck by the containership Dali final March 26 — was nearly 30 instances above the suitable danger threshold for crucial or important bridges, in line with steerage established by the American Affiliation of State Freeway and Transportation Officers.
Over the past 12 months, the NTSB recognized 68 bridges that have been designed earlier than the AASHTO steerage was established — just like the Key Bridge — that wouldn’t have a present vulnerability evaluation. The report doesn’t recommend that the 68 bridges are sure to break down.
“We… urge the owners of the 68 identified bridges to calculate whether the probability of a bridge collapse from a vessel collision is above the acceptable risk threshold established by AASHTO,” the NTSB report reads.
“If so, we urge them to develop and implement a risk reduction plan that includes input from the interdisciplinary team, identifies short- and long-term strategies to reduce risk, and considers the safety of the vessels and structures in the waterways,” the report provides.
The 68 bridges embody the George Washington Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Golden Gate Bridge.
The vulnerability evaluation for bridges take a look at: the frequency of vessels going underneath the bridge, the chance {that a} vessel will go astray, the chance of a bridge collapse as soon as a collision has occurred, and extra.
“Safety is always the top priority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” Military Col. Justin Pabis, the commander of USACE’s New England District, stated in a press release. “USACE has received and is reviewing the findings and recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board’s report on Safeguarding Bridges from Vessel Strikes.
“We value any insights that could help strengthen and secure our nation’s critical infrastructure and improve the safety of communities across the country,” Pabis added. “USACE looks forward to continuing to engage with local, state and federal partners on ways to improve infrastructure safety.”
Since 1994, the Federal Freeway Administration has required new bridges be designed to reduce the danger of a catastrophic bridge collapse from a vessel collision, given the scale, velocity and different traits of vessels navigating the channel underneath the bridge. The Key Bridge was constructed earlier than vulnerability assessments have been required by FHWA.
The NTSB discovered that if the Maryland Transportation Authority had carried out a vulnerability evaluation on the Key Bridge based mostly on current vessel site visitors, MDTA would have been conscious that the Key Bridge was above the suitable danger — and would have had info to proactively scale back the bridge’s danger of a collapse.
The 984-foot Singapore-flagged cargo vessel Dali was transiting out of Baltimore Harbor when it skilled a lack of electrical energy and propulsion, and struck the southern pier supporting the central truss spans of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which then collapsed. Six development crewmembers have been killed and one other was injured, in addition to one particular person onboard the vessel.
The Cape Cod Bridges Program will embody the alternative of the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, new connections to the native roadway community, and enhance multimodal lodging inside the Cape Cod Canal space. MassDOT is beginning to have contractors conduct subsurface investigations and vegetation administration operations close to the Sagamore Bridge — which would require short-term lane/shoulder closures on space roadways.
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