Pittsburgh Bridge Collapse: NTSB Promises Lengthy Probe

PITTSBURGH, PA — The National Transportation Safety Board has begun probing Friday's collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge over Frick Park, and board officials said the investigation will be thorough and lengthy.

“Over the coming weeks, we are going to put this bridge under a microscope,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news briefing Saturday. “We’re going to look at the entire history of this bridge, from design, maintenance, construction, everything up to the day of the collapse."

The span collapsed early Friday morning, sending a Port Authority bus and other vehicles into a Frick Park ravine and injuring 10 people. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening.

President Joe Biden visited the crash site Friday afternoon before delivering a scheduled address on infrastructure in Hazelwood.

Homendy described damage at the site as "massive."

“It certainly takes your breath away when you are there,” she said.

Homendy said that while it was fortunate no lives were lost in the incident,"there were injuries. This was certainly very tragic and something that I’m certain that those involved are still processing."

The 447-foot span, built in 1970, carried about 14,000 vehicles a day and was a critical link between Oakland, Squirrel Hill and Regent Square in the city's east end. The bridge had been rated in poor condition.

Homendy provided sobering statistics on the the state of bridges in Pennsylvania. She noted that while 7.3 percent of the country's 618,000 bridges are rated poor, 14.6 percent of the state's 22,965 bridges are in poor condition.

“This is a call to action because we have aging transportation infrastructure,” she said.

See video here of the NTSB at the collapse site.

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