Memorial Bridge flagged for collapse risk assessment following Baltimore bridge tragedy
The Memorial Bridge has been identified as one of dozens of United States bridges that should be evaluated for risk of collapse from a vessel strike.
The National Transportation Safety Board's Thursday report was released nearly one year after the fatal Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore that killed several construction workers. A massive cargo ship, the Dali, lost power and struck the major bridge, sending a significant portion of it toppling into the Patapsco River.
Among the 68 bridges named for risk assessment are the Memorial Bridge and several iconic structures, including the Tobin Bridge in Boston, the Golden Gate Bridge in California, the Chicago Skyway Calumet River Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.
'Today's report does not suggest that the 68 bridges are certain to collapse,' the National Transporation Safety Board wrote on Thursday. 'The NTSB is recommending that these 30 bridge owners evaluate whether the bridges are above the (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) acceptable level of risk. The NTSB recommended that bridge owners develop and implement a comprehensive risk reduction plan if the calculations indicate a bridge has a risk level above the (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) threshold.'
The Francis Scott Key Bridge was found to be nearly 30 times above the acceptable risk threshold for critical or essential bridges per standards outlined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency responsible for reviewing civil transportation accidents.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials created its risk assessment formula for new bridges on the National Highway System in 1991. All 68 bridges recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board to undergo a risk assessment were designed before the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials guidance was formed.
The National Transportation Safety Board is urging the owners of the 68 identified bridges to calculate the annual frequency of potential collapse using the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials methodology.
'The 30 owners of 68 bridges over navigable waterways frequented by ocean-going vessels are likely unaware of their bridges' risk of catastrophic collapse from a vessel collision and the potential need to implement countermeasures to reduce the bridges' vulnerability,' the National Transportation Safety Board wrote in its report.
The Memorial Bridge is the only bridge from Maine or New Hampshire to be named for risk assessment in the National Transportation Safety Board's report.
Connecting Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Kittery, Maine, the original Memorial Bridge opened to the public in 1923. The vertical lift bridge is jointly owned by the Maine Department of Transportation and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.
A 600-foot tanker headed for Portland, Maine, struck the Memorial Bridge in 2014 and caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage, though the structure's fender system prevented any catastrophic collapse.
The most recent vessel strike on the Memorial Bridge was far less impactful but drew onlookers' attention. The mast of a roughly 50-foot-long sailboat cruising along the Piscataqua hit the bridge in June 2024, forcing two passengers to be safely evacuated and the U.S. Coast Guard to save the sailboat from capsizing.
A staple of Portsmouth Harbor, the zinc-coated bridge, which carries U.S. Route 1 traffic into southern Maine, was replaced and reopened in an emotional 2013 ceremony, becoming the first gussetless truss bridge in the world. The bridge was rededicated to U.S. soldiers and sailors who lost their lives in World War I.
The replacement project cost nearly $90 million and was taken across the finish line with tens of millions of dollars in federal funding.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Feds flag Memorial Bridge for collapse risk assessment: What to know
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