{"id":29631,"date":"2025-03-22T02:47:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T09:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/maryland-officials-failed-to-test-key-bridge-vulnerability\/"},"modified":"2025-03-22T02:47:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T09:47:43","slug":"maryland-officials-failed-to-test-key-bridge-vulnerability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/maryland-officials-failed-to-test-key-bridge-vulnerability\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland officials failed to test Key Bridge vulnerability"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><\/p>\n<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/images\/audio_icon.svg?482016190122\" alt=\"-\"><\/p>\n<p>        Listen to the article<br \/>\n        <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">3 min<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dmgi9movl\/video\/upload\/q_1\/v1742563037\/news\/text_to_speech\/maryalnd-expect-key-bridge-risk-ntsb_oenyze.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The Maryland Transportation Authority failed to evaluate the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ntsb.gov\/news\/press-releases\/Pages\/nr20250320.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Francis Scott Key Bridge<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> for vulnerability and risk as a result of collision, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Thursday.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The March 26, 2024, collapse of the span could potentially have been prevented if the MDTA had reviewed the risk and taken corrective action, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a press conference Thursday, nearly one year after the tragedy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Homendy referred to an analysis provided by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials created in 1991 as a result of the collapse of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa, Florida, in 1980. AASHTO\u2019s vulnerability assessment calculator for new bridges on the National Highway System evaluates the level of risk for collapse if a span were struck by a vessel.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Though the Key Bridge was finished in 1977, AASHTO says that its calculator is not just for new bridge construction and urges owners to evaluate existing spans constructed before the guidance.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>But before the Key Bridge collapsed, Maryland officials had never performed the analysis, so the NTSB had to research the risk after the fact. The MDTA has still not assessed the nearby Chesapeake Bay Bridge, built in 1948, for risk, Homendy said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cThere\u2019s no excuse,\u201d Homendy said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Upon assessing the span, the NTSB discovered the Key Bridge\u2019s risk was nearly 30 times greater than the acceptable threshold for critical or essential bridges, Homendy said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWe were very surprised that [the risk numbers] were high,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s something MDTA could have known and should have known.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><strong><span><span>Nationwide risk<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>In addition, Homendy said the NTSB <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ntsb.gov\/investigations\/AccidentReports\/Reports\/MIR2510.pdf#page=22\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>recommends that the owners of 68 bridges<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> across 19 states perform vulnerability assessments and take protective measures if necessary. The bridges were all constructed before the 1991 AASHTO guidance was established and have not undergone vulnerability assessment based on recent vessel traffic. Therefore, they have an unknown level of risk of collapse from a collision.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>These spans include the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and the new Sunshine Skyway Bridge.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>She emphasized that singling out those bridges does not mean that they are automatically dangerous, merely that their risk needs to be calculated. By the same token, other bridges are not automatically safe from potential harm, Homendy said, as she cautioned vigilance.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The Key Bridge collapsed when the cargo ship <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-ship-collision\/711330\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Dali collided with one of the span\u2019s piers<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>. Had the analysis been performed, Homendy indicated that the MDTA could have invested in dolphins or other protections to drive fast-moving sea vessels away from the vital support for the bridge.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/maryland-key-bridge-risk-ntsb-report\/743162\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 3 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. The &#8230; <a title=\"Maryland officials failed to test Key Bridge vulnerability\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/maryland-officials-failed-to-test-key-bridge-vulnerability\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Maryland officials failed to test Key Bridge vulnerability\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}