By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday called for urgent safety assessments of 68 bridges including iconic crossings like the Golden Gate, Chesapeake Bay, Brooklyn, George Washington and Chicago Skyway bridges.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the board wants bridge owners in 19 states to perform vulnerability assessments and determine the risk of catastrophic collapse from a vessel collision.
The NTSB is making the recommendation after the March 2024 collapse of the Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was struck by a cargo ship, killing six people.
If a bridge is determined to be at risk of collapse, measures to reduce risk need to be implemented, the NTSB said.
Other bridges that need urgent reviews include the Bourne and Sagamore bridges cross the Cape Cod canal in Massachusetts, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and Mateo-Hayward Bridge in California, Mackinac Bridge in Michigan, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida, Memorial Bridge in New Hampshire and the Verrazano Narrows, Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge in New York.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and Cynthia Osterman)
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