68 Bridges Need Checks For Risk Of Collapse

The National Transportation Safety Board is warning that 68 bridges in 19 states should be evaluated for their risk of collapse if a ship or other vessel were to strike them.

The recommendations announced last week advise local entities that own the bridges to conduct inspections. The NTSB report doesn't indicate any bridges are in imminent danger of collapse, but notes that they were all built after new guidelines came into place in 1991 and "have not undergone a vulnerability assessment based on recent vessel traffic, and, therefore, have an unknown level of risk of collapse from a vessel collision."

Among the busiest or most well-known bridges on the list are San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, the Brooklyn and George Washington bridges in New York City and Michigan's Mackinac Bridge.

The NTSB list comes in the wake of the investigation into the collapse last year of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it was hit by a ship.

The Role Of Weather In Bridge Collisions

Weather has been blamed in some past bridge collapses.

"Mariners have to be very aware of both current and any upcoming potential weather hazards," weather.com senior meteorologist Chris Dolce said. "Thick fog, rough surf and sudden thunderstorms are just a few of the weather conditions that can be a threat to vessels. For example, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida collapsed after a freighter struck it during a storm in 1980."

The Sunshine Skyway collapse, which killed 35 people, prompted the new guidelines that were issued in 1991. The bridge that replaced it, opened in 1987, is included in the new NTSB advice.

Here’s the complete list of the bridges singled out for recommended inspections, by state:

California

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

Carquinez Bridge

Benicia-Martinez Bridge

Antioch Bridge

San Mateo-Hayward Bridge

Coronado Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

Delaware

Summit Bridge

Saint Georges Bridge

Reedy Point Bridge

Florida

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge (Dames Point Bridge)

Georgia

Talmadge Bridge

Illinois

Chicago Skyway Calumet River Bridge

Louisiana

Huey P. Long Bridge

Greater New Orleans Bridge

Israel LaFleur Bridge

Crescent City Connection Bridge

Hale Boggs (Luling) Bridge

Horace Wilkinson Bridge

Gramercy (Veterans Memorial) Bridge

Sunshine Bridge

Maryland

William Preston Lane Jr. (Bay) Bridge (eastbound)

William Preston Lane Jr. (Bay) Bridge (westbound)

Chesapeake City Bridge

Massachusetts

Tobin Bridge (southbound upper)

Tobin Bridge (northbound lower)

Bourne Bridge

Sagamore Bridge

Michigan

Mackinac Bridge

New Hampshire

Memorial Bridge

New Jersey

Commodore Barry Bridge

Vincent R. Casciano (Newark Bay) Bridge

New York

Verrazano Narrows Bridge (eastbound)

Verrazano Narrows Bridge (westbound)

Brooklyn Bridge

Manhattan Bridge

Williamsburg Bridge

Newburgh-Beacon Bridge (eastbound)

Newburgh-Beacon Bridge (westbound)

Rip Van Winkle Bridge

Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge

George Washington Bridge

Outerbridge Crossing Bridge

Seaway International Bridge

Thousand Islands Bridge

Ohio

CUY-00490-0010 (I-490) Bridge

CUY-00002-1441 (Main Avenue) Bridge

CUY-00006-1456 (Detroit Avenue) Bridge

CUY-00010-1613 (Carnegie Avenue) Bridge

LUC-01W02-0002 (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial) Bridge

LUC-00002-1862 (Anthony Wayne) Bridge

Oregon

Astoria-Megler Bridge

St. Johns Bridge

Pennsylvania

Walt Whitman Bridge

Benjamin Franklin Bridge

Betsy Ross Bridge

Delaware River Turnpike Bridge

Rhode Island

Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge

Texas

Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge

Sidney Sherman Bridge

Rainbow Bridge

Veterans Memorial Bridge

Hartman Bridge (eastbound)

Hartman Bridge (westbound)

GulfGate Bridge

Washington

Lewis and Clark Bridge

Wisconsin

Leo Frigo Bridge

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Weather.com senior writer Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.