Ten people were injured Friday morning when a bridge that carries Forbes Avenue over Frick Park in Pittsburgh collapsed, officials said, with six vehicles including a Port Authority bus left stranded in the twisted mess of a bridge that had been listed in poor condition for the past decade.

Three people were transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Pittsburgh fire Chief Darryl Jones said. A fourth person — one of the two passengers on the bus — was taken to a hospital about two hours after the crash, Port Authority spokesperson Adam Brandolph said. UPMC said in a statement that all four were in fair condition. 

“We were fortunate” that no one was killed, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said Friday morning from the scene of the collapse, where he was joined by Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Pennsylvania Lt. Gov John Fetterman, among others.

The bridge collapsed as the city prepared for a visit from President Joe Biden, who is scheduled to speak about infrastructure Friday afternoon at Mill 19 in Hazelwood. Multiple local officials said the collapse illustrated how desperately the region and the nation need significant and rapid infrastructure investment.

Photos from the scene showed five vehicles had fallen with the bridge, plus an articulated Port Authority bus that was trapped on a slab of the remnants of the span.

Chief Jones said rescue crews rappelled 100 to 150 feet down the steep hillside in order to help injured people up. Rescue operations were finished by 8:30 a.m., the city said in a news release.

“First responders worked quickly and effectively together, sharing resources and information,” acting Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said in the release. “Their diligence ensured everyone on the bridge was safe.”

Search and rescue crews are now focused on searching for possible victims underneath the rubble of the bridge, the city news release added.

In a statement, Port Authority said the bus that became trapped — the 61B Braddock-Swissvale — was headed outbound on the bridge at about 6:45 a.m. and had nearly reached the east side of the bridge when it collapsed.

Mr. Brandolph said the bus initially slid backward at about a 45-degree angle, but it stopped when its rear got caught on part of the rubble. Emergency crews were then able to rescue the driver and the two passengers.

Port Authority initially said the bus driver and the two passengers onboard escaped without injury, but Chief Jones said two of those three people were among the 10 injured.

Later Friday morning, Mr. Brandolph clarified that one of the two passengers left the scene of the collapse and got on another bus. About two hours after the collapse, that person complained of injuries and was taken to the hospital.

Mr. Brandolph added that the bus is considered a complete loss and the agency doesn’t know when it may be able to remove it.

The collapse also caused a large gas leak, which emitted a sound reminiscent of a jet engine, on Forbes near South Dallas Avenue.

Peoples Natural Gas said a gas line that passes under the bridge broke shortly before 7 a.m., causing what Chief Jones described as a “massive” gas leak.

Peoples spokesman Barry Kuckovich said crews quickly turned off the gas and isolated the break. He said there was minimal service interruption to customers.

Chief Jones said several nearby families were initially evacuated from their homes due to the leak but were allowed to return to their homes by midmorning. https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/MapMaker/maps/frick-park-bridge-collapse.html

The city warned the public to avoid the area of the collapse. The bridge is near the intersection of Forbes and Braddock avenues, which split the Point Breeze, Regent Square and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods.

Mr. Fitzgerald noted that the bridge is “a major artery” that connects Pittsburgh’s East End with Downtown in one direction and the eastern suburbs in the other.

“A lot of work is going to need to be done,” Mr. Fitzgerald said.

Inspection history

Inspections dating to 2011 show the bridge has been rated in poor condition, according to the National Bridge Inventory. At the end of last year, the bridge also was listed as in poor condition by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Records from the National Bridge Inventory show that the bridge was consistently found to be in poor condition during inspections from 2011 to 2017. Mr. Gainey said the bridge was last inspected in September 2021.

According to the state Department of Transportation, Allegheny County has the highest number of bridges in poor condition, as well as the highest number of bridges overall. In the county, 8% — 96 of 1,186 — of state road bridges are listed in poor condition. Another 20% — 80 of 397 — of local road bridges are listed in poor condition.

Nationwide, the American Society of Civil Engineers said in a 2021 report that 46,154 bridges were considered in poor condition, or about 7.5% of the country’s 617,000 bridges.

The bridge was owned by the city of Pittsburgh. It was a 497-foot bridge with a three-span steel rigid frame and carried some 14,000 vehicles a day.

The bridge was built in the early 1970s by New Castle-based Conn Construction Co. It replaced a previous bridge that had been there since 1901.

The American Society of Civil Engineers awarded a prize to the bridge in 1974, mentioning that its sloping piers gave the structure a “sense of logic and beauty.”

The National Transportation Safety Board announced late Friday morning that it is sending a go-team to the scene. The team, headed by NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, was expected to arrive Friday afternoon.

President’s visit

The collapse came the same day Mr. Biden was scheduled to speak in Pittsburgh about infrastructure, with particular emphasis on the importance of the recently passed $1 trillion bill to fund repair and maintenance of the nation’s roads, bridges, railways and other physical infrastructure.

“This bipartisan infrastructure law is critical to southwestern Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh,” Mr. Gainey said Friday. “We know we have bridges we need to take care of. With [Mr. Biden] coming today to talk about this infrastructure bill, to discuss why this funding is so important, today is significant.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president would proceed with his trip as planned and “will stay in touch with officials on the ground about additional assistance we can provide.”

“[Mr. Biden] has been told of the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh,” Ms. Psaki tweeted Friday morning. “Our team is in touch with state and local officials on the ground as they continue to gather information about the cause of the collapse.”

Ms. Psaki added that Mr. Biden is “grateful to the first responders who rushed to assist the drivers who were on the bridge at the time.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, whose district includes the city of Pittsburgh, said he anticipates the bridge collapse to “disrupt transportation” for months.

Mr. Doyle added that he’s been in touch with the White House, Mr. Gainey and Mr. Fitzgerald “to ask for help and facilitate coordination on rebuilding it.”

On Twitter, Mr. Doyle wrote that this is a “tragic example of why the [infrastructure] bill Congress just enacted is needed. We should be constantly investing MORE in our infrastructure so our bridges and other public works don’t reach this point of disrepair.”

Mr. Doyle’s office said PennDOT already has been in touch with the Federal Highway Administration to talk about funding for replacing the bridge. It is part of the National Highway System and eligible for funding under several programs.

The FHA has been in touch with elected officials and pledged to help any way it can.

In an interview Thursday previewing the president’s visit to Pittsburgh, Mr. Fitzgerald told the Post-Gazette that there are structures in the region built almost a century ago that — without the infrastructure investment — are at risk of failing by the end of the decade.

Gov. Tom Wolf said his administration was monitoring the situation and was prepared to provide support as needed.

Witness accounts

Melissa Bakth, who lives near Frick Park, said she was in bed just before 7 a.m. Friday when she heard the four-lane bridge collapse, followed by the rushing sound of the gas line breaking.

“There was a boom, then a monster sound,” Ms. Bakth said. “It was so loud, and it didn’t stop. It could’ve been me. I’m on that bridge every day. It’s very, very busy.”

The bridge crosses over a popular walking trail in Frick Park and an off-leash dog exercise area. People were in the park around the time of the collapse, but there were no immediate reports of injuries on the trail.

Dog walkers and other neighbors gathered near the scene Friday to gasp together and to shoot photos and videos on their phones.

John Jacobs, of Squirrel Hill, said he walks his two dogs in the park every morning.

“It’s funny Biden’s in town on the infrastructure bill,” Mr. Jacobs said. “What a coincidence.”

Robert Randozzo, the manager of Frick Park Automotive, said he was unlocking the door to the shop — which is located across Braddock Avenue from the bridge — at about 6:30 a.m. when he heard the roar of the gas line that ruptured.

“As I unlocked the front door, the wave of natural gas hit the building,” he said. “A heavy, heavy smell.”

Mr. Randozzo said he called 911 to report the gas leak, but at that time, he didn’t even realize the bridge had collapsed.

He said the shop received multiple calls from customers checking to see if everyone was all right.

Jay Duque-Chavez was working at home in Squirrel Hill on Friday morning when he heard about the collapse and decided to walk down in his tennis shoes through the snow to Frick Park.

“I ride this every day with my 6-year-old daughter to her grandma’s,” Mr. Duque-Chavez said while looking at the collapsed bridge from an adjacent hillside. “It’s remarkable — I never imagined this thing would collapse. Now it’s like, the outlook on life around this is going to be different going forward — going over, going underneath. I was driving just yesterday around 8:30, then less than 24 hours, you go back to see this.

“You just never know timing,” he added. “Timing and luck.”

Jon Danzak, who lives on Braddock Avenue less than a block away from the bridge, said he heard a large bang Friday, which he assumed was a garbage truck emptying the dumpsters behind nearby restaurants.

“Then I heard a large ‘woosh,’ like a plane was going over my house,” he said, “but it persisted.”

A short time later, Mr. Danzak heard the sound of emergency sirens and thought that there must have been an accident. Braddock Avenue is a busy road, he noted, and car crashes occur regularly.

When he found out about the collapse, Mr. Danzak said he thought about how much traffic goes over the bridge every day.

“It’s a major cut-through for people going to Oakland because of Parkway congestion,” he said.

Mr. Danzak said he uses the bridge daily to get to Squirrel Hill and Oakland. He estimated that a trip to those neighborhoods that used to take him five minutes will now be at least two or three times longer.

Because such a major route is now cut off, Mr. Danzak said he expects there will be more traffic on Penn and Dallas avenues, as well as on the Parkway, from commuters heading from the east into Squirrel Hill and beyond.

“Long term, the city really does need an alternative to the Squirrel Hill Tunnel,” he said.

Closures and schedule changes

Frick Park is closed indefinitely because of the collapse, the city’s Public Safety Department

St. Bede Catholic School near Frick Park, which had been on a two-hour snow delay, canceled classes Friday because of the bridge collapse. A strong smell of natural gas was reported in the vicinity of the school, a spokeswoman said.

Pittsburgh Public Schools also adjusted because of the collapse. The district said in a news release that all K-5, K-8, 6-8 and special education schools would move to remote learning because of the collapse and a high volume of driver call-offs. High schools and 6-12 schools contiuned with in-person classes on a two-hour delay schedule. Transportation was canceled, the district said, as was grab-and-go meal service.

______________________________

Like Our Story ? Donate to Support Us, Click Here

You want to share a story with us? Do you want to advertise with us? Do you need publicity/live coverage for product, service, or event? Contact us on WhatsApp +16477721660 or email Adebaconnector@gmail.com