NTSB Identifies Some Major Houston-Area Bridges As 'High Risk'

Anyone who has grown up or lived in Houston knows that bridges are a necessity. From the Causeway to get to Galveston Island, to the Fred Hartman Bridge across the ship channel, we are no strangers to crossing bridges daily. We are the 'Bayou City,' after all. But even as constant construction and repairs are made to our major bridges, there is still a risk of them collapsing if a ship hit them. Similar to what we saw in Baltimore last year with the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a report recently that lists 68 bridges across the United States at risk of collapsing in a vessel strike incident. In Houston, the Fred Hartman Bridge, the Beltway Ship Channel Bridge, and the Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge were all on the list.

KTRH traffic man Mike Valdez, otherwise known by Houstonians as 'Sky Mike,' says this makes sense when you take all factors into account.

"Keep in mind we have a whole new span of the toll bridge coming up, too," he says.

Considering the Port of Houston is the nation's leader in cargo volume, and the presence of the Intracoastal Waterway, large ships passing by the bridge is an hourly occurrence. So, it is not outlandish to think a Baltimore-like incident could happen in Houston at some point. Especially with more construction on the way.

Port Arthur's Rainbow Bridge was also in the mix of 'high risk' bridges, and they have more construction coming down the pipe this year.

As anyone familiar with Houston knows as well, traffic is one of the worst things we deal with daily. No matter the time or the day, there is always traffic, especially near the Ship Channel. So, combined with the Port of Houston's existence, an incident of a bridge collapse here would be disastrous.

"If we lost any of our ship channel bridges, the results would be a disaster to both commuting, as well as to commerce and local trucking," he says. "It would slow down commuting, commerce, it would be terrible to drivers...you have limited numbers of access."

The Port of Houston generates about $802 billion annually for the United States, so a collapse blocking the channel would not just cause issues here, but around the globe.

Now some preemptive action has been taken. The Harris County Toll Road Authority has said they will comply with NTSB recommendations. They are constructing a new bridge already to replace the four-decade old Buffalo Bayou Toll Bridge.

In the end though, this is just another feature of living in Houston.

"It is like living on a fault line or a place where you have hurricanes...it is one of those hazards we deal with in Houston every day," says Valdez.

The NTSB’s recommendations come in the wake of the Baltimore incident and are part of a national effort at enhancing bridge safety.