NTSB says four NE Ohio bridges need to be evaluated for risk of collapse

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – In the NTSB report following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last year, the NTSB identified other bridges around the country that need evaluating to ensure another situation doesn’t occur.

The NTSB wanted to specify that these bridges will need to be evaluated in order to determine precisely what improvements are made, and that they won’t tell drivers to actively avoid them.

The four Northeast Ohio bridges that were listed are all ODOT controlled:

• I-490 Bridge in Cleveland
• Main Avenue Bridge in Cleveland
• Detroit Avenue Bridge on the Lakewood, Rocky River border
• Carnegie Avenue Bridge in Cleveland

All of the bridges were built prior to 1991, which is prior to the safety guidance currently used by the NTSB was implemented.

The NTSB says the need for these bridges to be analyzed is the risk they could pose if struck by a larger cargo-like vessel.

“These bridge owners need to be looking at recent vessel traffic. Things have changed over time. Vessels have gotten bigger and heavier,” NTSB Director Jennifer Homendy said, “At one point in time in the 1950’s we had vessels that had just 800 containers on them now we’re talking 24,000 containers. So they have to look at specific measures”.

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