The Maryland Transportation Authority is working on implementing $160 million in improvements to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to prevent potential vessel collisions after a federal study criticized the state for failing to assess potential risks to the structure.
MDTA says it conducted a $600,000 survey of the bridge and concluded that it needed to install pier fenders and artificial islands that will slow or halt vessels before they hit the bridge.
The National Transportation Safety Board called out the Chesapeake Bay Bridge last month as one of 68 bridges across the nation that were built before standards and recommendations were set by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
The federal agency called out Maryland for not independently conducting its own survey in the decades since those standards were set.
The NTSB study found that Maryland’s lack of awareness around the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a factor in the collapse last year.
“The MDTA would have been able to proactively identify strategies to reduce the risk of a collapse and loss of lives associated with a vessel collision with the bridge,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said last month. “What's frustrating is, not only did MDTA fail to conduct the vulnerability assessment on the Key Bridge, they did not provide, nor were they able to provide, the NTSB with the data needed to conduct the assessment, including the characteristics of vessel traffic passing under the bridge, vessel transit speeds, vessel loading characteristics.”
Designs to the improvements of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge will finish this summer and construction will conclude in a few years.
In a letter to the NTSB, the MDTA stated it “is developing a comprehensive risk reduction plan that will include short-term and long-term strategies for reducing risk, such as bridge operational restrictions, regulatory requirements for vessel transits under the Bay Bridges, and physical protection measures. Short-term strategies may include: communication protocols for vessel pilots, reduced vessel speeds, one-way transits, and methods to manage vehicular traffic on the bridge. Long-term strategies may include: physical protection measures such as dolphins and pier fenders.”
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a dual bridge, one side was completed in 1952, the second in 1973. The industry standards for protecting bridges from vessel collisions were developed in 1991.
