Pittsburgh Bridge Should Have Been Closed Before Collapse: NTSB

PITTSBURGH, PA — The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge should have been closed before its spectacular collapse in January 2022.

NTSB officials revealed that determination in a meeting on the span’s failure. No one was killed in the collapse, but 10 people were injured- several seriously.

The NTSB determined that local officials repeatedly ignored maintenance and repair reports, some of which dated back to 2005. The failure to address those reports caused the bridge to deteriorate and eventually fall into Frick Park.

The collapse of the city-owned Fern Hollow span sent five vehicles and an articulating Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus plummeting onto a park walking path.

President Joe Biden, who was in town that day to tout the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that had been recently passed, toured the site and made a return visit in October 2022. The bridge replacement project was fast-tracked and a new Fern Hollow span opened in December 2022.

NTSB investigators found corrosion, deterioration, and section loss on all four of the bridge’s legs due to the continual accumulation of water and debris.