Burlington-Bristol Bridge Vulnerable For Collapse: Analysis Says

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA —We all watched the video of a cargo ship ramming into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending it collapsing into the water.

But that scary situation could happen right here at home.

The New York Times recently analyzed federal data and shipping traffic in the wake of the Baltimore bridge collapse, finding dozens of vulnerable bridges spanning waterways that serve as corridors for large vessels around places like Philadelphia, Boston, and New Orleans.

The review identified 193 bridges that each carry 10,000 vehicles or more a day that have no protections installed around the piers planted in rivers and seabeds that hold up the bridges.

And on that list is the Burlington-Bristol Bridge.

The bridge is among the most vulnerable to a similar catastrophe like the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the NY Times review states.

The span is one of several along the Delaware River — including the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge and the Ben Franklin Bridge, both gateways to Philadelphia — where inspectors found deteriorated protection systems around the bridge piers.

The NY Times provided a scenario about the Burlington-Bristol Bridge.

In 2015, a 600-foot freighter lost propulsion as it traveled along the Delaware River between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Seconds before the vessel reached the Burlington-Bristol Bridge, it crashed into the river bank instead, averting disaster, the article stated.

Michael McCarron, the director of operations at the Burlington County Bridge Commission, said repair work this year will involve some attention to the bridge’s protection system.

At the same time, the county is focusing on how to evacuate the bridges in the event of a looming collision, using tower operators who are in constant communication with vessels and a police force always at the ready.

“Time is of the essence,” he said in the article.