Pittsburgh bridge collapse - Biden delivers infrastructure remarks and promises to ‘fix them all’
Injuries were reported on the scene after roadway plunged into the ravine
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Your support makes all the difference.A bus and several cars plummeted into a ravine as the Forbes Avenue Bridge in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park collapsed at around 6am on Friday.
Pictures from the area show the cracked, snow-covered bridge lying in the Fern Hollow gorge, with emergency services on the scene.
Despite several vehicles being thrown from the bridge as it collapsed, emergency services reported there had been no fatalities, while paramedics reported 10 people had suffered injuries, including one firefighter who was being treated at the scene, Trib live reported.
Rescuers rapelled down 150ft to reach the site and a human chain was formed to help people to safety from a city bus that was crossing the bridge at the time.
Following the collapse a gas line was cut and it took almost 30 mins to shut the pipeline down as neighbouring houses and businesses were evacuated.
The collapse of the bridge came just hours before President Joe Biden arrived in Pittsburgh, known as the City of Bridges, to discuss plans to improve the country’s infrastructure. He visited the site of the disaster with Mayor Ed Gainey and met with first responders.
Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg is monitoring the situation and is also set to speak about infrastructure at an event in Kansas later today.
Biden’s 13th trip to Pennsylvania as president
Former CBS White House correspondent notes that this is President Joe Biden’s 13th visit to Pennsylvania in the year since he took office.
The state flipped to the Democrats in the 2020 election by a narrow margin.
Fetterman: Biden ‘ahead of the curve’ on infrastructure
Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman says the bridge collapse shows that President Joe Biden is “ahead of the curve” on infrastructure.
“We will have the resources available because of the infrastructure bill passed under his watch.”
Bus driver ‘banged up’ up but in good spirits
Daryl Luciani, who was driving the articulated bus seen in many of the photos of today’s disaster, says he feels “banged up” and is getting checked out at a hospital.
He is otherwise in good spirits following this morning’s bridge collapse.
Witnesses: 'There was a boom, then a monster sound’
Pittsburgh’s Post-Gazette has gathered witness accounts of the bridge collapse.
“There was a boom, then a monster sound,” Melissa Bakth, who lives near Frick Park 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.”
John Jacobs, of Squirrel Hill, said he walks his two dogs in the park beneath the bridge 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, was unlocking the door to the nearby shop 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.”
Jay Duque-Chavez, who lives in nearby Squirrel Hill, told the Post-Gazette: “I ride this every day with my 6-year-old daughter to her grandma’s.”
“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.”
Bridge won design award in 1974
The Forbes Avenue Bridge over Fern Hollow won a design award when completed in 1973.
Jurors for the American Institute of Steel Construction said: “This very handsome bridge blends well into its rustic setting. The sloping piers and their relationship to the hillsides give the entire structure a sense of logic and beauty.”
Since then, neglect of the bridge appears to have led to the steel supports rusting through over time.
The 470 feet long bridge was owned by the city of Pittsburgh and carried some 14,000 vehicles a day.
Bus 'a complete loss’
The Post Gazette reports:
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.
Mayor Gainey speaks at site of bridge collapse
Biden visits site of collapsed bridge
President Joe Biden has visited the site of the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh, just a few miles away from where he will soon give a speech on repairing the nation’s infrastructure.
“I’ve been coming to Pittsburgh a long time, as a former Pennsylvanian, but I didn’t realize they’re literally more bridges in Pittsburgh than any other city in the world. More than Venice,” President Biden said at site of the collapsed bridge. “We’re going to fix them all. Not a joke.”
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