Are these 2 major Florida bridges at risk of collapse? That’s what feds want to know

Federal investigators are urging bridge owners to figure out whether dozens of notable bridges across the U.S. are at risk of collapsing.

On Tuesday, the NTSB released a report detailing an investigation into the Francis Scott Key Bridge near Baltimore, which collapsed nearly a year ago after a containership rammed into its support column.

According to the report, the Key Bridge had been “above the acceptable level of risk” for such a collision, and if a proper assessment had been performed beforehand, the bridge owner would have been aware of that fact.

“If the MDTA had calculated the (risk level) for the Key Bridge before the collapse, it would have identified that the bridge’s risk level was almost 30 times greater than the AASHTO risk threshold,” the report reads.

Following this discovery, NTSB officials began to question the integrity of other bridges in the nation.

Over the last year, NTSB officials said they identified 68 bridges built before 1991 that haven’t undergone a vulnerability assessment, thereby having “an unknown level of risk from a vessel collision.”

More specifically, these aren’t bridges that the NTSB claimed will collapse. Instead, the NTSB recommended that the bridge owners evaluate whether their risk levels meet the standards set by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Out of all 68 brides listed in the report, two of them are located in the Sunshine State: the Sunshine Skyway Bridge near Tampa, and the Dames Point Bridge in Jacksonville.

Per the NTSB, the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge was felled in 1980 after it was struck by a bulk carrier. The existing bridge was later opened to the public in 1987. Meanwhile, the Dames Point Bridge was built in 1989.

Many bridges listed in the report were categorized as “typical,” meaning they’re not as crucial to the area and thus have a lower threshold for risk. On the flip side, other bridges in the report were identified as “critical,” meaning they are considered essential and “serve as important links” in the Strategic Highway Network.

Both of the Florida bridges were designated as “critical.”

To evaluate the risk levels of these bridges, the report advised looking at the following factors:

• The frequency of boats and other vessels passing under the bridge
• The probability that a vessel will go off course
• The probability that a vessel will hit a bridge pier if it goes off course
• The probability of a bridge collapse once a collision has occurred
• The protection factor from structures like dolphins or islands that may protect a pier from collision

Meanwhile, the rest of the bridges included in the report were as follows: