Pittsburgh Public Safety said a “confirmed bridge collapse” occurred at 6:39 a.m. Officials said five vehicles and a Port Authority bus were on the Fern Hollow Bridge near Forbes and Braddock avenues. Another vehicle was shown dangling near the edge of the collapsed bridge, which is located in Frick Park and connects the Point Breeze, Regent Square and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods of Pittsburgh.
© Provided by The Washington PostPittsburgh bridge collapse injures 10 on day Biden to visit city to talk infrastructure
Four people were hospitalized, but none of the injuries are life-threatening, said Darryl Jones, chief of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, at a news conference. A hospital spokesperson with UPMC Presbyterian told The Washington Post that three adult patients were in fair condition as of Friday afternoon. Another adult patient was hospitalized at UPMC Shadyside, and that person is also in fair condition, a spokesperson said.
“The good thing at this point is that there are no fatalities, and we’re going to pray there are no fatalities,” Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey (D) told reporters. “We were fortunate.”
Biden arrived at the site of the collapsed bridge before 1:30 p.m. As he surveyed the damage from afar, Biden said the first responders “deserve an incredible amount of credit.” The president vowed that the bridge would be fixed as part of the infrastructure package.
“We have been so far behind on infrastructure for so many years that it’s just mind-boggling,” he told reporters. He said of the city’s bridges: “We’re going to fix them all.”
Police, fire and EMS personnel responded to the collapse and concluded their rescue operations after 8:30 a.m., according to officials. Gainey added that first responders are checking to make sure no one is trapped underneath the collapsed bridge.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) said the state is “prepared to provide support as needed.”
The cause of the collapse is under investigation, Jones said. The National Transportation Safety Board announced it was sending a go-team to begin an investigation into the bridge collapse.
Gainey told reporters that the bridge, which was built in 1970, was last inspected in September 2021. It’s not immediately clear whether any issues were reported during the most recent inspection.
The bridge — which has been estimated to carry about 14,500 vehicles a day — has been rated in poor condition in inspections dating back to 2011, according to the U.S. Transportation Department’s National Bridge Inventory. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation notes that a poor rating of a state bridge means that “deterioration of primary structural elements has advanced.” A September 2019 inspection of the city-owned Fern Hollow Bridge found that both its superstructure and deck were in poor condition.
Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph confirmed to The Post that a driver and two passengers were able to escape without injury. Rescuers rappelled about 150 feet while other first responders formed a human chain to help pull multiple people from the bus, Jones said.
“We are extremely thankful that no one from the bus reported any injuries, and grateful for the first responders who risked their own lives to save others,” Brandolph said.
Public Safety said there was “a strong smell of natural gas in the area,” and the agency confirmed that a gas line had been cut. Nearby homes were being evacuated due to the gas smell, but they have since been allowed to return, Jones said. Barry Kuckovich, a spokesman with Peoples Natural Gas, said there are no service outages as of Friday afternoon, adding that the residual gas smell in the area is “perfectly safe.”
The Red Cross is assisting with victims, according to Public Safety. The Salvation Army is helping with first responders, Jones said.
The collapse occurred on the same day that Biden traveled to Pittsburgh to discuss infrastructure. As part of his trip, the president will visit the research and development hub of Mill 19, which was part of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal passed by Congress last year.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was “grateful to the first responders who rushed to assist the drivers who were on the bridge at the time.”
Biden’s day trip to Pittsburgh, a big city in a major swing state, is designed to promote his economic record at a moment when his approval ratings are low. Some Democrats have complained that Biden does not do enough to tout his administration’s successes, and Biden himself has said he plans to travel the country more this year.Analysis: The wide ripple effect of the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh
The visit to Pennsylvania also marks a return to a key midterm battleground, where he and Democrats are looking to promote their record as the campaign takes shape. A crucial U.S. Senate race is heating up in the Keystone State following an announcement by Republican Sen. Patrick J. Toomey that he is retiring, and the outcome could have a bearing on which party controls the chamber next year.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), who is running for the U.S. Senate this year, was among those at the scene of the collapse. Fetterman told reporters that it was “jarring” to see what the bridge looked like after he drove on it Thursday.
“We’re the city of bridges — and how many are out there?” he said. “I hope it’s a wake-up call to the nation that we have to make these critical infrastructure investments and that people are afforded a safe drive to work. I’m just grateful nobody was killed.”
The collapse of the bridge provides an unusually stark illustration of Biden’s broader point about the need to shore up the country’s infrastructure, although he is likely to be cautious about opening himself up to accusations of politicizing the collapse.
The president Friday intends to discuss the infrastructure law’s effect on supply chain snarls as well as its provisions for rebuilding roads, bridges, ports and airports, according to a White House official who previewed the trip on the condition of anonymity, under ground rules set by the White House.
The American Road and Transportation Builders Association ranked Pennsylvania’s bridges the fifth-worst in the nation in 2020, according to its most recent annual survey. The state had almost 12,000 bridges in need of repair, according to the group’s analysis of federal data.
The new infrastructure law includes a $27 billion fund to help states and cities tackle aging bridges, and Pennsylvania is in line to receive $1.6 billion of that money in the coming five years.
The Fern Hollow Bridge, which is located 10 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh, crosses over a popular walking trail in Frick Park. Rep. Mike Doyle (D), whose district is based in Pittsburgh, called the collapse “a major challenge for our community” that speaks volumes about why the infrastructure deal was needed. Gainey agreed.
“We need it,” Gainey told reporters. “We could have had some significant injuries.”
Neighbors in the east Pittsburgh neighborhood reported hearing a loud noise before 7 a.m. Wendy Stroh was quietly reading a John Grisham novel when she heard what sounded to her like “a huge snowplow plowing on tarmac without snow on it.” When she went outside, Stroh, who has lived near the bridge since 2013, realized what had happened and was stunned and frightened.
“The locals and I have not fully processed this yet. But your imagination starts to wander and you start to think, ‘Oh my goodness, are all bridges like this?’ ” said Stroh, 62. “This is going to make me think twice the next time I cross a bridge.”
Melissa Bakth heard what she described as “a monster noise” when she was in bed and initially thought the area was being bombed. Bakth, who has lived near the bridge for almost her whole life, broke down after thinking about what could have happened to her young daughter or the many other children who take school buses over the bridge every day. The 43-year-old said she drives over the bridge at least six times a day, noting that there are three schools within a few blocks of the bridge.
“That’s part of the reason I’m crying — it’s so overwhelming. I still can’t believe I was standing there with the entire bridge at my feet,” Bakth told The Post, noting that she’s worried about the bridge’s condition for a while. She added that she hopes the collapse helps personalize the issue of infrastructure: “It’s not about the money and numbers. It’s about lives.”
Rich Fitzgerald, the county executive for Allegheny County, said authorities would be working with families in the area to make sure everyone is safe.
“A lot of work is going to need to be done,” Fitzgerald said.
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