But an assessment to see how they’d do in the event a ship crashed into them would be a good idea.
By Patrick Feller from Humble, Texas, USA – originally posted to Flickr as Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge 0804091506BW, CC BY 2.0
Some Houston area bridges are among those that a new report says should be evaluated to determine whether they’re at risk of collapsing if hit by a vessel such as the one that caused the devastating Baltimore bridge collapse in 2024.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a report Tuesday identifying 68 bridges across the U.S. that could be at risk of collapse from a vessel strike because the structures haven’t undergone a recent vulnerability assessment and were likely not built to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Guide specifications issued in 1991.
The report noted the Sidney Sherman Bridge and Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge, also known as the Houston Ship Channel Bridge, in Houston. Other bridges in the greater Houston area were also named, such as the Fred Hartman Bridge, Rainbow Bridge, Veterans Memorial Bridge, and Gulfgate Bridge.
The NTSB recommended that the Texas Department of Transportation and the Harris County Toll Road Authority conduct a vulnerability assessment on high-risk bridges for safety. The assessment would determine the risk of a bridge collapsing due to a vessel collision.
However, the NTSB officials explained that the recommendation doesn’t suggest that the bridges are certain to collapse. A Thursday news release states that the owners should evaluate “whether the bridges are above the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ acceptable level of risk.”
TxDOT said in an email that it is reviewing the report.
The Harris County Toll Road Authority will review any recommendations provided by the NTSB for existing bridges and comply with the guidance, according to spokesperson Tracy Jackson.
We still have a National Transportation Safety Board? Who knew. Anyway, there have been some ship-on-bridge collisions in the past, so a vulnerability assessment seems like a good idea. What happens if one or more of these bridges needs to be replaced is a subject we can cover when and if that happens.