Houston’s aging bridges are under scrutiny following the release of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Marine Investigation Report about the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
NTSB recommends that 68 Bridges in the U.S. be evaluated for risk of collapse from vessel strikes. In Houston, that includes the Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge, the Fred Hartman Bridge, and the Sidney Sherman Bridge.
The report details how outdated design and insufficient protective measures in Baltimore led to a catastrophic accident that killed six people and disrupted a key economic corridor. The container ship Dali, after losing electrical power and propulsion, struck a critical support pier.
The impact caused the bridge’s truss structure to fail, sending the roadway into the Patapsco River. The NTSB concluded that the absence of adequate pier protection was a primary cause.
The Houston Port is one of the busiest in the world and is responsible for $906 Billion in economic activity nationwide. An accident that shuts down the port even briefly would disrupt supply chains and have a large economic impact in the region and beyond.
Currently, the Houston Pilots Association provides pilot services to help navigate all vessels entering or departing the Port of Houston as required by Texas law.
While there is no certainty that any of the bridges the NTSB recommended for evaluation will collapse, owners are urged to conduct a vulnerability assessment. The NTSB cited “unknown risk” associated with bridges built before standards by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials were in place as the reason.
“The 30 owners of 68 bridges over navigable waterways frequented by ocean-going vessels are likely unaware of their bridges’ risk of catastrophic collapse from a vessel collision and the potential need to implement countermeasures to reduce the bridges’ vulnerability,” the NTSB writes in its findings.
The report offers actionable steps for cities like Houston to take, including reinforcing piers and other vulnerable structures with modern fender systems, which are often made of rubber or foam to protect structures from damage during berthing and mooring by absorbing impact energy.
The NTSB also recommended regular evaluations to identify and prioritize high-risk bridges for upgrades.
