City Council Member Says Inspection Standards Must Increase After Pittsburgh Bridge Collapse
By: Erika Stanish/KDKA-TV
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The investigation into why and how a bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh's Point Breeze neighborhood on Friday morning is underway.
>> PHOTOS: Bridge Collapses In Pittsburgh's Frick Park
Several people were injured after the Fern Hollow Bridge over Frick Park collapsed into a ravine.
Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones said urban search and rescue teams were called in to assist with the rescue and cleanup. The crews searched for anyone who may have been caught underneath the collapse. He said officials are confident no other victims are involved.
Five vehicles were on the bridge during the collapse. Authorities said if the collapse had just been a half-hour later, the bridge would have been full of commuters.
The last time the bridge was inspected was in September, when it received a "poor" rating. Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O'Connor said this incident must increase bridge inspection standards.
"I don't know the standards to when you get to a point where it has to be shut down, but that is something we have to look at as a council to say, what are our standards locally and up them," O'Connor said. "But at a local level, we have so many bridges we cross daily. We need to up our game and figure out what those standards need to be."
The National Transportation Safety Board arrived on the scene of the collapse on Friday evening. The agency will use equipment, including a drone, to help map out the area before anything is removed.
"Our engineering team will look for signs of stress in the materials that comprised the bridge, signs of fracture, signs of deterioration. ... But I want to stress those are general. We have no factual information on this collapse," said Dennis Collins with the NTSB.
