Bridge given an overall ‘poor’ rating by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
By Amanda Watts and Paul P. Murphy, CNN
The bridge that collapsed Friday had an “overall condition” rating of “poor,” according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation website that tracks bridges across the state.
The bridge was built in 1970, was 447 feet long, and made of a steel rigid frame, the website says.
The PennDOT website says the Deck Condition was rated “4 – Poor,” the Superstructure Condition was also “4 – Poor,” and the Substructure Condition was rated “6 – Satisfactory.” During a news conference Friday, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said it was last inspected on September 2021.
According to PennDOT, “Bridge condition is determined by the lowest condition rating of the primary components of a bridge or culvert.”
“If the lowest rating is greater than or equal to 7, the bridge is classified as Good; if it is less than or equal to 4, the classification is Poor. Bridges rated 5 or 6 are classified as Fair,” the website explains.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman called the bridge a “vital artery” for the city on CNN’s New Day.
“This bridge is a vital part of the infrastructure that gets the Eastern community in Squirrel Hill and into the city of Pittsburgh,” he said. “It crosses Frick Park, which is one of Pittsburgh’s largest parks, and it’s just a vital artery here in the city of Pittsburgh.”
President Biden is expected to be in Pittsburgh today to discuss infrastructure.
“This is a horrible way to underscore just how critical our infrastructure needs are in this country because this is a vital artery in the Pittsburgh area,” Fetterman said. “It literally just collapsed and now we have a situation here … from a transportation standpoint, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to imagine getting around the way this was given the bridge that is collapsed.”
The-CNN-Wire
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