Walt Whitman, Ben Franklin bridges among 5 in Philadelphia area to be evaluated for collapse risk, NTSB says

By Jan Carabeo, Joe Brandt

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    PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (KYW) — Five bridges in the Philadelphia area should be evaluated for collapse risk a year after a ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to fall into Maryland’s Patapsco River, according to the NTSB.

The NTSB wants 68 bridges across 19 states to get a “vulnerability assessment” to determine their risk of collapse if they were to be involved in a vessel collision. CBS News has published the whole list, which includes the Golden Gate Bridge in California and New York’s Brooklyn Bridge.

It’s important to note, being on the list doesn’t mean the bridge is bound to collapse. Owners just need to evaluate whether the bridge meets the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ acceptable level of risk.

Which Philadelphia-area bridges are on the list? These are the five Philadelphia-area bridges that NTSB says will need an assessment:

Benjamin Franklin Bridge, built in 1926 Delaware River Turnpike Bridge, built in 1956 Walt Whitman Bridge, built in 1957 Commodore Barry Bridge, built in 1974 Betsy Ross Bridge, built in 1976 Bridge owners have been tasked with evaluating whether the structures are above the acceptable level of risk.

The Delaware River Port Authority controls four of the local bridges. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority controls the Delaware River Turnpike Bridge, which connects the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes.

Three of the five bridges were listed as “critical/essential” in the report.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission sent the following statement:

We just received this NTSB report and will be thoroughly reviewing it over the coming days. Safety is the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s top priority, and we are committed to advancing safety in all aspects of our operations.

We’ve reached out to the DRPA and New Jersey Turnpike Authority for comment and are waiting to hear back.

What protective measures are in place on the bridges over the Delaware River? In the wake of the Key Bridge collapse, CBS News Philadelphia’s Joe Holden spoke to the DRPA about protective measures in place on local bridges.

DRPA officials said about two decades ago, officials realized the Commodore Barry Bridge needed a major safety upgrade — today, rock islands surround the supports of the bridge and would cause a vessel to run aground before striking the supports.

There are similar protections at the Betsy Ross Bridge.

Meanwhile, the Benjamin Franklin and Walt Whitman bridges have supports well out of the way of the main shipping channel that vessels travel through.

“There are structural steel towers that suspension cables are attached to that sit on a foundation and the water that they’re is protected by a timber protection system, but it is too shallow for a ship to get into those areas,” Delaware River Port Authority CEO John Hanson said at the time.

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