Maryland failed to assess the vulnerability of its Francis Scott Key Bridge long before it collapsed
BALTIMORE — The Maryland Transportation Authority failed to complete a recommended vulnerability assessment that would have shown the Francis Scott Key Bridge was at significant risk of collapse from a ship strike long before its demise last year, according to federal investigators.
The bridge collapsed after a massive cargo ship lost power and veered off course, striking one of its support piers. Six construction workers were killed.
Maryland leaders should have done more to prevent the deadly disaster, National Transportation Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said during a media briefing Thursday afternoon.
The board update comes almost a year after the bridge collapse, which temporarily halted ship traffic through the Port of Baltimore and could become the most expensive maritime disaster in history.
Homendy listed 30 owners of 68 bridges across 19 states who need to perform vulnerability assessments to determine whether they need more protection to prevent collapse from ship strikes.
When board investigators performed that calculation for Baltimore’s Key Bridge, they found it was almost 30 times greater than the acceptable risk threshold, according to guidance established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The group published the vulnerability assessment calculation in 1991 and reiterated its recommendation that bridge owners perform the assessments in 2009.
Homendy said Maryland officials have had decades to assess their bridges. She said they still haven’t assessed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge even after last year’s collapse.
“There’s no excuse,” she said.
