On March 26, 2024, a large cargo ship named Dali lost power while moving through Baltimore’s busy harbor. Without control, the ship struck one of the support piers of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. In just seconds, the bridge collapsed. Six construction workers died, and the port — one of the largest in the U.S. — was shut down, affecting jobs and shipping for weeks.
Why do Delaware River bridges face ship collision risk? Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) quickly began looking into the accident to answer that question. It also raised a larger question: How many other bridges across the country could be at similar risk — and how many haven’t been tested at all? These issues are of great concern to every day citizens, transportation safety experts, and personal injury lawyers like Munley Law, among may others.
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The initial NTSB findings were alarming: the Key Bridge had not been evaluated using modern standards that help engineers understand whether a bridge could survive a ship crash. In fact, they found that the risk of a collapse from a collision like this was 30 times higher than what’s considered acceptable today.
The NTSB’s preliminary report also found that the Dali experienced two electrical blackouts before the collision, causing the vessel to veer off course. Most critically, the bridge lacked adequate pier protection systems to deflect or absorb the impact—a design vulnerability present in many older bridges.
After the collapse, the NTSB reviewed other bridges across the United States that, like the Key Bridge, were built before 1991, the year when updated safety standards were introduced by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Those standards were improved again in 2009. The result: 68 bridges in 19 states were identified as possibly at risk, because they were designed before modern rules — and have never been tested using today’s methods.
Five of those bridges are in the Philadelphia area, crossing the Delaware River:
Benjamin Franklin Bridge (1926)
Walt Whitman Bridge (1957)
Commodore Barry Bridge (1974)
Betsy Ross Bridge (1976)
Delaware River Turnpike Bridge (1956)
These bridges are essential. They connect Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Thousands of people rely on them daily. They also carry major truck traffic, making them vital for shipping, deliveries, and business. The fact that these bridges haven’t had a modern safety check doesn’t mean they are about to collapse. But it does mean there is a gap in our knowledge — and that’s a risk in itself.
When older bridges were built, the ships passing underneath were much smaller and slower than the ones we see today. Cargo ships now are often 800 to 1,200 feet long, carry thousands of containers, and weigh many thousands of tons. They travel faster and take longer to stop.
Yet many older bridges were designed with only smaller vessels in mind. Some used calculations based on 195-foot barges or tugboats. That’s like planning for a bicycle crash when you now have trucks on the road. The impact energy from a modern container ship is far greater than older models predicted.
A 2020 study even showed that U.S. bridge design formulas may underestimate the impact force from ship collisions by up to 40% compared to newer European standards.
Many of these bridges also lack:
Modern protective barriers (like reinforced fenders or dolphins)
Redundant load paths (which help a bridge stay up even if one part is damaged)
Risk-based assessments using today’s traffic and ship data
Some protective features have already been added to Philadelphia-area bridges — but they were not tested under current safety standards.
Commodore Barry Bridge: Rock islands were built around its support piers in 2008. These are meant to stop or slow a drifting ship before it can hit the main structure.
Betsy Ross Bridge: It’s surrounded by concrete “dolphins,” strong circular barriers designed to take the hit instead of the bridge itself.
Benjamin Franklin and Walt Whitman Bridges: These are suspension bridges, so their main towers are located farther from the shipping lanes. They have timber fender systems that offer some protection but may not withstand impact from very large ships.
These features help, but without modern assessments, no one knows for sure how effective they would be in a real emergency involving today’s ships.
A vulnerability assessment is a detailed study that helps engineers understand how likely it is that a ship could hit a bridge — and what the results might be. This assessment would take into account:
The number and size of ships that pass under the bridge
The speed and direction of the water current
The design and strength of the bridge supports
The existing protective structures
How a collision could affect the bridge’s stability
Once the data is gathered, engineers can compare the risk to national safety standards. If the bridge’s risk level is too high, steps can be taken to reduce it — such as adding new barriers, reinforcing the structure, or even adjusting how ships move near the bridge.
The collapse of the Key Bridge wasn’t just caused by bad luck or a single ship losing power. What made the crash so deadly was the fact that no one had checked how vulnerable the bridge really was.
The bridge didn’t have strong fender systems. There was no emergency system to guide the ship away from the pier. And there had been no formal safety assessment under AASHTO’s modern standards — even though those standards have been in place for more than 30 years. The NTSB now recommends that government agencies like the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard work with bridge owners to carry out these assessments across the country, and take action where needed.
The Delaware River bridges are part of everyday life in this region. But they’re also part of the national freight network. If one were to collapse, it wouldn’t just affect travel — it could impact businesses, emergency services, and supply chains across multiple states. Several key points make these assessments urgent:
Age: Some of these bridges are nearly 100 years old and were not built for today’s ship traffic.
Ship size: The ships using the Delaware River today are far bigger than anything engineers planned for in the 20th century.
Uncertainty: Without up-to-date testing, there’s no way to be confident that these bridges would survive a serious impact.
The real danger isn’t that a bridge might fall tomorrow — it’s that we don’t currently know which ones are most at risk. And as Baltimore showed, not knowing is not safe. The five major Delaware River bridges serve millions of people every year. They are essential to life, work, and travel in the region. That makes it even more important to make sure they meet today’s safety expectations.
The NTSB’s message is simple: evaluate the risk, fix what’s needed, and protect lives. Waiting for a tragedy is not a responsible option. These bridges have stood strong for decades. With proper assessments and updates, they can keep serving the region safely for many more years.
Posted in Personal Injury.
