The St. Johns and Astoria-Megler bridges are on the list for a vulnerability assessment, though the NTSB report notes that does not mean they’re certain to collapse.
PORTLAND, Oregon — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that nearly 70 bridges across the U.S. should conduct a vulnerability assessment as part of an ongoing investigation into last year’s collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. The March 26, 2024, collapse killed six people and snarled commercial shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore for months before it reopened.
NTSB found that the Francis Scott Key Bridge was “almost 30 times above the acceptable risk threshold for critical or essential bridges” in regard to guidance from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The agency, over the last year, identified 30 owners of 68 bridges, crossing 19 states, designed prior to AASHTO’s 1991 guidance that do not have a current vulnerability assessment.
It should be noted, however, that report “does not suggest that the 68 bridges are certain to collapse,” NTSB said — only that they might be vulnerable to vessel strikes, as said bridges are positioned in waterways frequented by vessels.
The NTSB report requested that the Federal Highway Administration, Coast Guard and Corps of Engineers form a team to assist and guide the bridge owners on evaluating and reducing the risk of a vessel-to-bridge collision, as well as for bridge owners to calculate the odds that such a collapse is above AASHTO’s acceptable risk threshold.
The NTSB report identified Oregon’s Astoria-Megler and St. Johns bridges, as well as the Washington-operated Lewis and Clark Bridge. The report noted that Astoria-Megler across the Columbia River Bar and Lewis and Clark bridges are “critical/essential” to look at, with Portland’s St. Johns Bridge designated as “typical.”
The aging bridges of Oregon
The Oregon Department of Transportation owns 2,781 bridges, two of which were replaced last year: the McMinnville Spur Bridge over South Yamhill River and the Bellevue-Hopewell Highway Bridge over Salt Creek.
The Astoria–Megler Bridge, which opened in 1966, spans the lower Columbia River, carrying a section of U.S. Route 101 from Astoria to Point Ellice near Megler in Washington state. It is 29 years old.
Portland’s St. Johns Bridge spans the Willamette River, carrying the U.S. Route 30 Bypass, and opened in 1931, making it 94 years old.
In ODOT’s 2024 Bridge Condition Report, the department was pessimistic about the future of replacing the bridges, as an average of only three bridges are replaced a year, taking into account funding delays.
“Although a significant portion of these bridges are in fair condition at this time, in the following decades, the agency will be burdened with a huge responsibility to maintain or replace the 40% of the inventory built between 1951-1970, as they continue to deteriorate,” the report stated.
Overall, ODOT’s report said, a majority of the state’s bridges were in “fair condition,” but noted that though the bridges are “safe,” they will continue to age and need increased maintenance.
This year, two bridges were replaced: the McMinnville Spur (Oregon 18) Bridge over the South Yamhill River and the Bellevue-Hopewell Highway (Oregon 153) Bridge over Salt Creek.
Has Oregon ever had a bridge collapse?
To date, Oregon has never had a major bridge collapse on anything approaching the scale of the Baltimore incident.
RELATED: Columbia River pilots taking look at updating safety measures after Baltimore bridge collapse
However, Washington has seen five major bridge collapses and failures over the years — though none of them were caused by impacts from boats — with the most infamous the Tacoma Narrows Bridge disaster in 1940. The most recent incident was in 2013, when part of a bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River collapsed after a truck on the freeway struck part of the truss above the roadway.
Last October, the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused Baltimore’s bridge collapse agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle a Department of Justice lawsuit, which alleged the electrical and mechanical systems on the ship were improperly maintained, causing the boat to veer off course.
Anthony Macuk contributed to the reporting of this story.
Credit: Source link
