Tech Insider
The remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it was struck by a container ship on Tuesday.
The remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after a container ship struck it on Tuesday.

Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

  • The Francis Scott Key bridge was "fracture critical," authorities said Wednesday.
  • That means the entire structure could crumple if one vital piece of bridge fails.
  • Of the 615,000 bridges in America, 17,468 are fracture-critical, the NTSB said.

The Baltimore bridge that collapsed Tuesday was "fracture critical," the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, said in a briefing Wednesday.

Tags
Transportation, francis-scott-key-bridge, dali-container-ship, NTSB, bridge, safety, Infrastructure
Source
Over 17,000 US bridges are vulnerable to collapse from a single hit, feds say