NEW JERSEY - In the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended a comprehensive safety reassessment of 68 bridges across 19 states, including two key spans in New Jersey. The agency urged bridge owners to conduct vulnerability assessments to evaluate the risk of collapse from vessel strikes—particularly for structures that predate 1991 design standards and lie over navigable waterways used by ocean-going vessels.
The two New Jersey bridges highlighted are the Commodore Barry Bridge, owned by the Delaware River Port Authority, and the Vincent R. Casciano Bridge, also known as the Newark Bay Bridge, managed by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. These bridges, constructed in 1974 and 1955 respectively, were identified as lacking a current vulnerability assessment and are considered to have an unknown level of risk of structural failure in the event of a maritime collision.
According to the NTSB's March 18, 2025, Marine Investigation Report (MIR-25-10), the recommendation stems from findings related to the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024. That incident occurred when the Singapore-flagged containership Dali lost power and struck a central pier, causing a large section of the structure to fall into Baltimore’s Patapsco River and resulting in six fatalities. A subsequent NTSB vulnerability assessment found the bridge's risk of collapse was nearly 30 times higher than the acceptable threshold for critical infrastructure under standards set by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
The NTSB evaluated over 170 bridges nationwide and narrowed the list to 68 bridges built before 1996, with at least 80 feet of vertical clearance and substructures located in the water—criteria that mirror conditions present in the Key Bridge collapse. These bridges, including New Jersey’s, have not undergone an up-to-date risk assessment based on current vessel traffic and shipping trends, such as the growth of ultra-large cargo ships since the 2016 Panama Canal expansion.
Of the two New Jersey bridges, the Vincent R. Casciano Bridge, which serves as a critical freight and commuter route, has been designated "critical/essential" by the NTSB. This classification is reserved for bridges that serve as major strategic links within the national highway system. The Commodore Barry Bridge is classified as "typical," indicating it does not serve a similarly strategic function but is still vulnerable.
The NTSB has called on the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to form an interdisciplinary team to guide bridge owners through the process of risk evaluation and, if necessary, the development of mitigation strategies. If assessments reveal an annual frequency of collapse (AF) above AASHTO’s risk thresholds—0.0001 for critical bridges and 0.001 for typical bridges—bridge owners are urged to implement a risk reduction plan that includes both immediate and long-term actions.
At present, there has been no public response from New Jersey transportation agencies regarding plans to carry out the recommended assessments. The NTSB emphasized that its recommendations are not indicative of imminent collapse, but rather a call for data-driven evaluations to inform safety planning and infrastructure investments.
The final investigative report on the Key Bridge collapse is expected in fall 2025. In the meantime, the NTSB continues to advocate for proactive assessments and structural safeguards to prevent similar disasters across the U.S. transportation network.
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