OKC FOX
by Mitch Blacher May 23, 2024
WASHINGTON (7News) — Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key bridge disaster has highlighted a common structural vulnerability in thousands of American bridges. More than 17,000 bridges lack structural redundancy, just as the Francis Scott Key Bridge did.
Engineers call these bridges "fracture critical," meaning if one structural support fails, the entire bridge can collapse. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) immediately identified this lack of structural redundancy as a factor in the Key Bridge’s failure. When the 116,000-ton cargo ship Dali struck a bridge support column, the entire bridge collapsed in a domino effect captured on camera.
“That would likely cause a portion of or the entire bridge to collapse. There’s no redundancy,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
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