Photo: Jim MacKay/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The National Transportation Safety Board recommended 68 bridges across the country undergo "vulnerability assessments" in the wake of last year's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, including three in Massachusetts.
Both the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges along with the upper and lower parts of the Tobin Bridge made the list which hopes to determine each bridge's risk of collapse if a vessel collides with it. Nearly a year ago a cargo ship lost power and ran into the Key Bridge, which collapsed and killed six roadworkers.
A new report from the NTSB on the collapse found the Key Bridge did not have an up to date vulnerability assessment as of the time of the collapse and that it was nearly over 30 times the acceptable risk threshold for bridges. The NTSB said the bridge's owners may have been able to take corrective actions if they had an updated assessment.
The report divides bridges into two categories, critical/essential and typical. Bridges deemed critical/essential serve as "important links" while all other bridges are considered typical. The Bourne Bridge is considered critical while the Sagamore and Tobin are typical.
Bridges that made the NTSB's list are not at certain risk of collapse, but rather have just been flagged for review because they were built before the guidelines were created in 1991. The NTSB is asking bridge owners to do a risk assessment and take any corrective actions if necessary.
Along with the three in Massachusetts, the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge made the list. Several iconic bridges across the country like California's Golden Gate Bridge and New York's Brooklyn Bridge also cracked the list.