JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Today marks one year since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore. Six lives were lost after a cargo ship ran adrift and struck the bridge in the early morning hours.
Action News Jax reported last week that NTSB officials listed the Dames Point Bridge in Jacksonville as one of 68 bridges nationwide they recommend be assessed to determine the risk of bridge collapse in case of a vessel collision.
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“The NTSB went through the country in the identified bridges, either because of their age or because of their location they felt were particularly vulnerable to unfortunate, tragic incidents like what happened with the Francis Scott Key Bridge up in Maryland,” said Lindsey Brock.
Related: NTSB warns of vulnerable bridges | See the list
Lindsey Brock is a Maritime Attorney who has been practicing maritime law for over 30 years. He welcomes the inspection.
“I think FDOT should follow the NTSB directives and do an investigation on the safety of the Dames Point Bridge,” said Brock. “It will alleviate a lot of fears.”
We asked the Florida Department of Transportation officials whether or not they plan to follow the recommendations of NTSB and conduct a vulnerability assessment.
Today, Action News Jax received FDOT’s official response to this report. They want to ensure everyone that Florida bridges set the standard for safety across the country.
You can read FDOT’S full statement below:
“Bridges listed on the NTSB’s recently released report were included due to the age of the bridge and proximity to large vessels, not due to the bridge lacking safety features or having any concern.
“Florida continuously takes proactive measures to ensure the safety of our infrastructure, such as regular and thorough bridge inspections and extensive vessel impact research including data analysis and modeling. Following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last year, FDOT completed an assessment of our entire bridge inventory to ensure a full evaluation of any potential vulnerabilities. Upon review, there were no critical findings found from this assessment.
“For many years, numerous safety enhancements have been implemented at the Dames Point Bridge and Sunshine Skyway Bridge to mitigate impact from maritime vessels. These additional protective measures include elevating the bridge, widening the channel, and incorporating layers of protection for bridge piers. Both bridges also feature a series of ‘Dolphins’, or large cylindrical structures driven into the seabed, which are strategically placed to serve as physical barriers to protect the bridge piers while keeping the shipping lane open. For the Sunshine Skyway bridge, rock islands surround the main channel supports and are designed to cause a large vessel to run aground long before it comes close to the bridge piers.
“With the Sunshine Skyway Bridge setting the national standard for bridge protection and often being cited by the NTSB as a model for other bridges, FDOT offered our expertise and assistance to help Baltimore recover from this terrible incident. Many of the advanced impact protections being employed at the new Francis Scott Key Bridge are modeled after protective measures described above on these two Florida bridges.”
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