Some of the nation’s most famous bridges, including four that carry rail or rail transit traffic, are on a list of 68 the National Transportation Safety Board says need to be assessed to determine their vulnerability to collapse if struck by an ocean-going vessel.
The list — which includes such landmarks as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Louisiana’s Huey P. Long Bridge — was released today (March 20, 2025) as part of the NTSB’s ongoing investigation into the March 26, 2024, collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. The Key Bridge collapsed after it was struck by the containership Dali, killing six construction workers and blocking most access to the Port of Baltimore for 11 weeks [see “Baltimore bridge tragedy to affect rail traffic …,” Trains News Wire, March 26, 2024]. A replacement bridge is now being built at a cost estimated at up to $1.9 billion.
In an interim investigation report, the NTSB calls for the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, and Army Corps of Engineers to develop a team to assist bridge owners in evaluating and reducing the risk of a bridge collapse. It also urges the owners of those 68 to determine if the risk of a collapse is above the threshold established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials as of 1991. Since 1994, the FHWA has required bridges to be designed to minimize the chance of a collapse in case of a ship strike.
An NTSB press release stresses that its report does not indicate that the bridges are certain to collapse, just that an assessment is needed.
The four bridges that include rail lines are:
— The Huey P. Long Bridge. Owned by the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad and Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Built in 1936, the bridge carries a two-track main line as well as six lanes of U.S. Route 90 over the Mississippi River.
— The Manhattan Bridge. The 1909 bridge owned by the New York City Department of Transportation carries seven lanes of road traffic and New York City Transit B, D, N, and Q subway lines over the East River.
— The Williamsburg Bridge. Another NYC DOT bridge across the East River, the structure dating to 1903 carries eight lanes of roadway and two tracks for the J, M, and Z subway lines.
— The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, crossing the Delaware River to link Philadelphia and Camden, N.J. Owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority, the bridge carries seven lanes of Interstate 676 and U.S. Route 30, along with two tracks of the Port Authority Transit Corp. (PATCO) Speedline.
While the NTSB is urging bridge owners to conduct an assessment, its report notes that neither the Federal Highway Administration or the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials can require them to do so.
The AH Smith bridge is missing. So are the Old Saybrook and New London bridges on the Corridor. Lots of smaller bridges that could be taken out by wayward barges. Livingston Avenue. Seneca River.
Note to engineers to avoid continuous trusses! If anything happens to one pier the bridge becomes a discontinuous truss and the entire thing comes down!
Watch the Key video.
As the article notes, the NTSB report specifically addresses bridges at threat from ocean-going vessels, since that is the subject of the investigation of the Key bridge.
Of the four rail bridges, three carry rapid transit rather than freight traffic.
Be interesting what the owners decide to do.
My guess is the focus was on FHWA inventory, and did not capture rail only structures. I suspect if rail only bridges were included there would be more structures on the list.