PITTSBURGH — Rust corrosion so bad that there were holes in the steel support legs. A bridge deck so compromised by chlorides from winter salt that the concrete underside was decaying and water was seeping through to the steel below. Steel cross-beams “severed” from their connection to the support legs that hold up the bridge.
This was the grim condition of Fern Hollow Bridge in early October 2021, as documented by inspectors who were the last ones to review the bridge’s problems less than four months before it suddenly collapsed on Jan. 28, according to a copy of a partially redacted inspection report provided this week to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in response to a Right to Know request.
Despite those significant structural concerns — documented on 106 pages with scores of color photos — no alarms were raised by inspectors for any immediate repairs, though the findings detail a long list of decaying conditions.
