NTSB report identifies 3 Harris County bridges possibly at risk from vessel collision

HOUSTON – The National Transportation Safety Board released a detailed report on the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which was caused by a collision with a ship.

• Baltimore Bridge collapse prompts question about Houston Ship Channel bridges, could the same thing happen here?

In the report released on Tuesday, the NTSB identified 68 other bridges across the country that frequently have ships crossing under them.

“Today we’re issuing four urgent safety recommendations to bridge owners,” said NTSB Charman Jennifer Homendy. “We’re urging 30 owners of 68 bridges in 19 states to perform a vulnerability assessment of their bridges risk of catastrophic collapse from a vessel collision.”

These bridges were said to have been constructed before safety guidance from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) came out in 1991 or have not undergone vulnerability assessments.

“The NTSB did a thorough study where they looked at the National Bridge inventory and they identified bridges that have piers in ship channels that were built prior to 1996 and that also have a lot of ship traffic,” said Vedhus Hoskere, Director of Structures and Artificial Intelligence Lab at the University of Houston.

Three of those bridges are in Harris County and seven are in Southeast Texas.

Bridges in Texas included in the report are:

The report says the Fred Hartman Bridge, Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge, and Sidney Sherman Bridge are among those that have not undergone a vulnerability assessment based on recent vessel traffic, and, therefore, have an unknown level of risk of collapse from a vessel collision.

The Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge was constructed in 1980 and the Fred Hartman Bridge in 1995. The Sidney Sherman Bridge was built in 1973.

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While the report does not necessarily say the bridges are unsafe or at risk of collapse due to a vessel collision, it does instruct state agencies such as TxDOT to assess the risk of collapse due to a collision.

“You can see out there that there are fenders that have been constructed to protect piers that are in the water,” said Hoskere. “The question is, are these fenders good enough to protect the bridge from modern ship collisions?”

It gives an equation for agencies to use to determine the risk to bridges and instructs the agencies to come up with a risk reduction plan if the calculation is higher than the AASHTO threshold that is considered acceptable.

The Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge crosses Buffalo Bayou on Beltway 8 between Interstate 10 and Highway 225.

The Fred Hartman Bridge crosses the San Jacinto River between La Porte and Baytown on Highway 146.

The Sidney Sherman Bridge crosses the Houston Ship Channel on the East Loop 610.

Gage Goulding: “Does that the kind of thing that would keep you up at night?”

Vedhus Hoskere: “Well, it’s something that it has to be assessed, right? Given that it is one of the 68 bridges, there’s a possibility that there could be some serious damage if there were a large ship to hit.”

Regarding the Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge, the Harris County Toll Road Authority released a statement in response to the NTSB report and KPRC 2′s request for comment:

“HCTRA will review any recommendations provided by the NTSB for existing bridges and will comply with that guidance. In regard to the specific bridge mentioned in the report, the Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge, also known as the Houston Ship Channel Bridge, HCTRA is currently constructing a new bridge to replace the more than 40-year-old structure. Safety is a top consideration in the design and building of the new bridge and measures are being put in place to mitigate any potential risk of failure.”

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