Pennsylvania Bridge Collapsed After Officials Neglected to Clean the Drains: NTSB

A Pennsylvania bridge collapsed in 2022 because officials had neglected to do maintenance on it and ignored warnings that it was falling into disrepair, according to a report.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the Fern Hollow Bridge, which collapsed on Jan. 28, 2022, in Pittsburgh, had an extremely clogged stormwater drain system which caused pieces of the bridge to corrode and then collapse, WTAE reported.

Tim Pintar, who conducted the inspections, said he “tried to preach” to the city that the bridge needed to be better taken care of.

"Nothing ever got done. I mean, just simply clean the stuff, you know?” Pintar said, according to WTAE.

Tom Joyce, a former operations manager for the agency that takes care of the city bridges, said "just cleaning the scuppers and the expansion dams, simple maintenance would go a long, long way. And they never did.”

At least 10 people were injured in the collapse, but there were no fatalities. The lack of deaths was credited in part to the collapse happening around 6:40 a.m., before it got busy. 

Since the bridge collapsed, Pittsburgh officials said the city has quadrupled spending on bridge maintenance, WTAE said.