Bridge collapse in Pittsburgh hours before President Biden set to visit
Rescuers form HUMAN CHAIN to save passengers from bus dangling from collapsed Pittsburgh bridge – just hours before Biden visits the city to promote his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill
Police reported the span, located in the city’s Frick Park neighborhood, came down some time around 7am on Friday morningSeveral cars as well as a Port Authority bus were involved in the collapse. Ten people were injured, three taken to hospital but none of the injuries are life-threatening, Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones said Biden toured the damaged bridge accompanied by local leaders and visited one end of the collapsed bridge where he spoke with first responders and local and state officials for an impromptu briefingA photo from the scene shows the commuter bus – which had three passengers and a driver on board – upright on a section of the collapsed bridge while another vehicle is shown dangling near the edge A September 2019 inspection of the city-owned bridge revealed the deck and superstructure to be in poor condition, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation´s National Bridge Inventory The steel span, built in 1970, carried about 14,500 vehicles a day and is posted with a 26-ton weight limitRescuers rappelled nearly 150ft and others formed a human chain to pluck commuters from the vehicles After reports of a strong smell of gas in the air a natural gas line was cut and nearby homes were evacuatedThe collapse happened hours before President Biden’s scheduled visit to Pittsburgh to tout his $1.2trillion infrastructure bill, which includes bridge maintenance. The White House announced the visit will go ahead
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Rescuers formed a human chain to rescue four people from a commuter bus left dangling off the edge of a collapsed bridge in Pittsburgh early Friday.
Photographs from the scene showed the bus – which had three passengers and a driver on board – perched upright on the edge of the bridge, which was was determined to be in poor overall condition by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in 2019.
Hours after the collapse President Joe Biden visited the city to tout his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which includes bridge maintenance.
Biden toured the damaged bridge accompanied by Senator Bob Casey, Congressman Conor Lamb, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and others and visited one end of the collapsed bridge where he spoke with first responders and local and state officials for an impromptu briefing, the Washington Post reported.
‘First of all, these guys deserve an incredible amount of credit, going down here’ he said as he praised officers.
Biden then spoke about his history with the city and commented on how many bridges Pittsburg has.
‘I’ve been coming to Pittsburgh a long time, and as a former Pennsylvanian, but I didn’t realize they’re literally more bridges in Pittsburgh than any other city in the world. Did you know? More than in Venice,’ Biden remarked.
‘We’re going to fix them all. Not a joke, this is going to be a gigantic change,’ he promised. ‘There’s 43,000 nationwide. And we’re sending the money. And by the way, we’re going to give you guys more money too – the cops.’
The two-lane span, on Forbes Avenue over Fern Hollow Creek in Frick Park – one of Pittsburgh’s largest parks – caved in around 7 a.m, taking multiple vehicles with it.
Biden asked for updates from officials as he surveyed the damage from afar.
The red Port Authority bus could still be seen from the edge, which hours after the collapse was roped off with yellow police tape, as well as a damaged pickup truck, a black sedan and two other overturned cars
‘I’ve been coming to Pittsburgh a long time,’ Biden said, adding that there are more bridges than any other city in the world.
‘And we’re going to fix them all,’ he said.
Scroll Down for Video:
An overhead shot of the two-lane span, on Forbes Avenue over Fern Hollow Creek in Frick Park- one of Pittsburgh’s largest parks- came down around 7 a.m, taking multiple vehicles with it
Dramatic photos show the Port Authority bus- which had three passengers and a driver on board – perched upright on the edge of the bridge. Other rescuers rappelled nearly 150ft to help with the rescue.
A Port Authority bus that had three passengers and a driver inside was on the bridge when it collapsed, miraculously no one was injured
A red pick up truck with an overturned vehicle is visible following the collapse of a bridge in Pittsburgh early Friday morning
Emergency personnel arrived at the scene of the collapse and had to form a human chain to help rescue multiple people from a dangling bus
Biden toured the damaged bridge accompanied by local leaders and visited one end of the collapsed bridge where he spoke with first responders and local and state officials for an impromptu briefing (pictured with Mayor Ed Gainey)
Pittsburgh Police blocks access at the opposite side of the Fern Hollow Bridge bridge collapse. Several safety crew members who slipped or fell during the rescue were treated for injuries
An overturned car remains on a Pittsburgh bridge that overturned on Friday morning. Authorities said the cause of the collapse of the ‘vital’ bridge in the Frick Park are is still unknown
Councilman Corey O’Connor said that the collapse of the vital bridge could effect traffic in the area for years: ‘This is a vital road, artery, in our area,’ he said.
A passerby takes pictures of the aftermath of the bridge collapse which resulted in 10 injuries and no fatalities, according to officials
The Fern Hollow bridge was vital to connecting the Eastern community in Squirrel Hill into the city of Pittsburgh
The deck’ condition was rated ‘4 – Poor,’ the superstructure condition was also ‘4 – Poor,’ and the substructure condition was rated ‘6 – Satisfactory,’ by the Department of Transportation´s National Bridge Inventory.
The bridge, located about a quarter-mile from the Reynolds Street entrance to Frick Park, goes over a wooded ravine and a creek that are part of the park
At the time of the collapse, there were just four vehicles on the bridge, Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones said
A commuter bus with three people and the driver on board is perched upright on the wreckage of the collapsed bridge in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park neighborhood.
A photo from the scene shows the commuter bus upright on a section of the collapsed bridge while another vehicle is shown dangling near the edge
The steel span, built in 1970, carried about 14,500 vehicles a day and is posted with a 26-ton weight limit, collapsed Friday morning
The bus and several cars went down with the bridge when it collapsed around 6am.
It is not yet known what caused the span – built in 1970 – to give out, but it is one of 123 bridges rated ‘poor’ in Allegheny County, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation´s National Bridge Inventory.
Sam Wasserman, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, said the most recent inspection occurred in September but the report was not immediately available.
A September 2019 inspection of the city-owned bridge revealed the deck and superstructure to be in poor condition, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation´s National Bridge Inventory.
The department’s website says the deck condition was rated ‘4 – Poor,’ the superstructure condition was also ‘4 – Poor,’ and the substructure condition was rated ‘6 – Satisfactory,’ CNN reported.
The bridge, owned by the city of Pittsburgh, was about 470 feet long and carried about 14,500 vehicles a day and had a posted a 26-ton weight limit because of its poor condition.
However, at the time of the collapse, there were just four vehicles on the bridge, Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones said.
He added that everyone who had been trapped was rescued by crew who had to rappel 100 to 150 feet down the ravine to rescue motorists.
‘They also did like a daisy chain with just hands, grabbing people and pulling them up,’ Jones said.
Authorities reported 10 minor injuries but no fatalities. Three people were taken to hospital.
Crews say two people who were on the bus were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and the other injuries are obtained by safety crew members who slipped or fell during the rescue.
City officials said the collapse caused a gas leak but the gas has since been shut off.
The bridge, located about a quarter-mile from the Reynolds Street entrance to Frick Park, goes over a wooded ravine and a creek that are part of the park.
People were in the park around the time of the collapse, but authorities have not reported any injuries from those on the trail.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman visited the site and called it ‘just an awful, surreal scene.’
‘This collapse is just the latest in a long line of preventable, man-made disasters that prove what so many of us in Pennsylvania and around the country have been saying for years: Our infrastructure is failing our people. Our roads and bridges, which are supposed to connect us and bring us together, are increasingly putting us in danger,’ he said.
‘I hope it’s a wake-up call to the nation that we need to make these infrastructure investments,’ Fetterman added.
Pennsylvania’s bridges were ranked the fifth-worst in the nation in 2020, by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association in its most recent annual survey, the Washington Post reported.
The state had almost 12,000 bridges in need of repair, according to the group’s analysis of federal data.
Biden’s new infrastructure law includes $27 billion in funding to help states and cities fix aging bridges, with Pennsylvania set to receive $1.6 billion of that money in the next five years, the Post reported.
On Friday transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said the collapse illustrated the necessity of federal investment in the nation’s infrastructure.
Speaking in Kansas City, Buttigieg said safety problems with bridges and roads across the nation was a result of disinvestment in public infrastructure, Kansasreflector.com reported.
‘Bottom line is this shouldn’t happen in the United States of America,’ he said. ‘It is a very blunt reminder, among many reminders, of just how urgent the need is to invest in American infrastructure.’
Councilman Corey O’Connor told CBS Pittsburgh that the collapse of the vital bridge could effect traffic in the area for years.
‘This is a vital road, artery, in our area,’ he said. ‘This is a road that a lot use in the east end, going around the tunnel. We’re looking at a couple-year closure here possibly.’
Fetterman said the bridge was vital to connecting the Eastern community in Squirrel Hill into the city of Pittsburgh.
The two-lane span, on Forbes Avenue over Fern Hollow Creek in Frick Park – one of Pittsburgh’s largest parks – was called a was vital to connecting the Eastern community in Squirrel Hill into the city of Pittsburgh
A September 2019 inspection of the city-owned bridge revealed the deck and superstructure to be in poor condition, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation´s National Bridge Inventory
First responders load an empty stretcher into an ambulance at the scene where a bridge collapsed. Authorities confirmed 10 injuries
Crews say two people who were on the bus were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and the other injuries are obtained by safety crew members who slipped or fell during the rescue
A law enforcement official told Biden, seen near the scene with Mayor Ed Gainey, that officials were still not sure if the collapse was caused by a gas leak or if the smell of gas was a result of the collapse
The collapse came hours before President Joe Biden was due to visit Pittsburgh to tout his $1.2 billion infrastructure bill.
Built in 1970, the 447-foot-long span is rated in poor condition and is posted with a 26-ton weight limit
City officials said the bridge had just been inspected a few months back in September, but did not say if there were any issues discovered during that inspection
The bridge is about a quarter-mile from the Reynolds Street entrance to Frick Park. It goes over a wooded ravine and a creek that are part of the park
Howard Seltman, 67, who lives nearby on Briarcliff Road, called 911 after he heard the collapse.
‘That bridge carries a lot of traffic every day,’ he told triblive.com. ‘How does this happen?’
Neighbor Wendy Stroh, who lives nearby, told CBS Pittsburgh that the collapse sounded like ‘a huge snow plow … pushing along the surface with no snow’. She added: ‘I didn’t know what it was … It was very frightening.’
After reports of a strong smell of gas in the air a natural gas line was cut and nearby homes were evacuated, Pittsburgh Public Safety said.
A law enforcement official told Biden during a tour of the damage that officials were still not sure if the collapse was caused by a gas leak or if the smell of gas was a result of the collapse.
Biden inquired about how long it took for the gas company to shut the gas and he was told it was turned off after about a half an hour.
Authorities told motorists to avoid the area.
Prior to arriving in Pittsburgh the White House said Biden would proceed with his planned trip.
‘Our team is in touch with state and local officials on the ground as they continue to gather information about the cause of the collapse,’ the statement said. ‘The President is grateful to the first responders who rushed to assist the drivers who were on the bridge at the time.’
As part of his trip, the president will visit the research and development hub of Mill 19, which was part of the infrastructure deal passed by Congress last year, the Washington Post reported.
The collapse comes three years after an unfinished 950-ton bridge collapsed in Miami, killing six people.
The unfinished bridge collapsed onto Southwest Eighth Street, crushing cars that had been waiting at a red light and was one of the deadliest structural failures in South Florida history before the June 2021 Surfside condo collapse, the Miami Herald reported.
The National Transportation and Safety Board later concluded the ‘catastrophic failure’ stemmed from a flawed design with ‘significant errors.’
The feds also criticized FIU, the Florida Department of Transportation and the project’s design team for lacking judgment and common sense when failing to close the busy road underneath the bridge while a construction crew performed emergency work.
