The National Transportation Safety Board has identified six Ohio bridges that could be at risk of collapse if they sustained a boat collision similar to one in Maryland last year.
The NTSB report comes as the agency was looking into the 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore when a container ship struck a pier. That bridge buckled and crumbled, killing eight people.
As part of the new federal report, the agency has identified six bridges in Ohio that could be at risk. Four are in Northeast Ohio. Those include the Detroit Avenue Bridge, the Main Avenue Bridge, the Carnegie Avenue Bridge and the I-490 Bridge. In the Toledo area, the Martin Luther King Bridge and the Anthony Wayne Bridge were identified to be at possible risk.
But the Ohio Department of Transportation isn’t concerned that the bridges are in great danger.
In a written statement, ODOT said ships that travel on Ohio’s waterways are much smaller than the container vessel that struck the Baltimore bridge in 2024. ODOT said it reviewed Ohio’s key bridges after the Maryland tragedy and all passed that review.
But while ODOT found the bridges were safe last year, the state agency said it will take a second look at the bridges identified in this report and follow all recommendations made for those bridges.
