The Sunshine Skyway, like dozens of bridges around the country, should be inspected for safety in light of last year’s collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore, federal officials say.
A yearlong investigation indicated that the Baltimore bridge was almost 30 times above the acceptable risk for critical bridges, according to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
The National Transportation Safety Board urged this past week that 68 bridges around the country, including the Skyway and Jacksonville’s Dames Point Bridge, be assessed along those guidelines.
The NTSB did not conclude that either Florida bridge or the others are certain to collapse. But, like Baltimore’s bridge, those spans are regularly exposed to large container ships.
NTSB wants bridge owners to evaluate whether the structures are above acceptable risk levels and implement a risk reduction plan if needed. The agency suggests the U.S. Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Highway Administration provide vulnerability assessments based on recent vessel traffic, size and speeds.
The Skyway and Dames Point were the only two Florida bridges on the NTSB list.
The current Skyway opened in 1987, seven years after a freighter hit the original Skyway, plunging vehicles into the water and killing 35 people. The cable-stayed superstructure spans Tampa Bay and connects Pinellas and Manatee counties on Interstate 275
The Dames Point, a cable-stayed bridge over the St. Johns River, is also known as the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge. Built in 1989, it carries traffic around Jacksonville on the I-295 East Beltway.
Both are owned by the Florida Department of Transportation.
FDOT‘s central office in Tallahassee is expected to make a statement responding to the NTSB report.
Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapsed March 26 last year after a large shipping vessel hit it. The accident killed six construction workers on the bridge
After the crash, officials in Florida gave assurances that the Skyway and Dames Point bridges were safe.
Both have large, concrete structures called “dolphins” in place to protect the piers from impacts with vessels.
Likewise, both have clearance systems using Air Gap sensors, which provide real-time information about the distance between the water surface and the bottom of the structure over the main channel.
