The Rhode Island agency that oversees the Newport Pell Bridge on Monday [04/21] released its response to the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommended risk assessment following last year’s deadly bridge collapse in Baltimore.
The four-lane suspension bridge linking Aquidneck Island and Jamestown is one of 68 bridges nationwide that the NTSB in March recommended for a vulnerability assessment. Built in 1969, the Pell Bridge is named after the late U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell of Newport.
The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority said it has taken initial steps for a risk assessment, including identifying engineering firms with “expertise in vessel strike risk analysis,” and engaging one such firm to begin initial tasks while the agency finalizes the task order, according to an April 18 letter to the NTSB from the Rhode Island authority’s executive director, Lori Caron Silveira.
The letter said the assessment will include an analysis of historic vessel traffic using AIS data, waterway characteristics, navigation procedures, geotechnical and bathymetric data, and structural engineering specifications of the bridge.
The report is expected to be completed in about six months, the RIBTA letter said.
In the immediate aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge accident in Baltimore, the letter said, the RIBTA also conducted an internal review to assess the vulnerability of its infrastructure.
“After the container vessel collided with the Key Bridge, we immediately convened a group of stakeholders and examined the risk of a vessel strike to the Newport Pell Bridge,” Silveira said in a statement. “Our research indicates that the vessels navigating the area are smaller than the container vessel involved in the Key Bridge incident. Furthermore, existing pilot practices, navigational controls, and the design and construction of the main Pell Bridge piers, which extend approximately 100 to 150 feet below mean high water, constitute additional protective factors.”
