Nearly a year after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that 68 U.S. bridges be evaluated for risk of vessel strikes.
Jacksonville’s Dames Point Bridge, also known as the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge, is on that list.
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The NTSB said in a news release Thursday that its investigators found “that the Key Bridge, which collapsed after being struck by the containership Dali on March 26, 2024, was almost 30 times above the acceptable risk threshold for critical or essential bridges, according to guidance established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or AASHTO.”
Six people were killed in the Key Bridge collapse, which happened on March 26, 2024.
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The Dames Point Bridge in Jacksonville is one of 68 bridges in the country that were constructed before the AASHTO guidance was established, NTSB said.
“In 1991, AASHTO developed and published the vulnerability assessment calculation for new bridges on the National Highway System, in response to the NTSB’s investigation of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse in Florida,” NTSB said in its news release. “At the time, AASHTO also recommended that all bridge owners conduct the vulnerability assessment on existing bridges to evaluate their risk of catastrophic collapse in the event of a vessel collision. AASHTO reiterated that recommendation to States again in 2009.”
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Also on the list of 68 bridges is the Sunshine Skyway, which goes across Tampa Bay. The old Sunshine Skyway collapsed on May 9, 1980 after it was struck by a vessel and 35 people died. The new Sunshine Skyway bridge was built in 1987 and the Dames Point Bridge was built in 1989.
Both bridges are owned by the Florida Department of Transportation. Action News Jax told you in a February investigation about how FDOT’s inspection findings are compiled into a quarterly bridge report. The report covers all of Florida’s bridges, including the nearly 800 in Duval County, and is a comprehensive 231-page document. It includes a rating system for each bridge, which takes into account its usage, inspection history, and current condition.
Action News Jax has reached out to the Florida Department of Transportation for its response to NTSB’s recommendation.
To see the NTSB’s full report, click here.
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