Liberty Bridge fire avoidable if standards followed
September 9, 2016 12:00 AM
Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette
A crew works on the Liberty Bridge on Thursday, six days after the fire occurred.
By Ed Blazina / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The fire that risked bringing down the Liberty Bridge should not have occurred had workers been following long-standing fire safety measures, construction experts said Thursday.
Workers at all construction sites are supposed to follow standards set by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Fire Protection Association, including specific requirements when they are doing “hot work” such as welding or using torches to cut steel. The fire a week ago that caused a 30-foot chord to bow and put the 2,600-foot-long bridge in danger of collapsing started when sparks from a worker cutting steel ignited plastic ventilation pipe and a tarpaulin.
According to the NFPA, crews doing hot work should have any combustible material at least 35 feet away from the flame or cover it with fire-retardant material. In addition, at least one member of a hot-work crew should be assigned as a “fire watch” to check for potential problems and have fire suppression equipment such as a fire extinguisher immediately available.
OSHA has similar requirements for worker safety.
“This is completely avoidable. All you have to do is follow the rules,” said Frank Burg, a registered professional safety engineer and certified safety professional in Woodstock, Ill. Mr. Burg spent 18 years as an OSHA inspector and has operated a private firm, Accident Prevention Corp., for 22 years.
“I can’t imagine how this could happen if they did everything they were supposed to do.”
Joseph B. Fay Co., the general contractor for the $80 million bridge-reconstruction project, referred questions to an outside spokeswoman, who couldn’t be reached for comment. OSHA’s area office in Pittsburgh opened an investigation of the fire Wednesday and might need up to six months to complete it.
PennDOT district executive Dan Cessna said the agency is continuing to review the fire and won’t comment while other agencies are investigating. Fay filed the required safety plan as part of its contract and PennDOT hasn’t ordered any changes as a result of the fire.
“Obviously, you learn from issues and, obviously, this has been one,” Mr. Cessna said.
Another construction expert, David Gardner, said safety should be a daily priority at all construction sites, with regular meetings at least weekly to remind crews of safety procedures and note changes that occur as jobs progress. For example, cutting steel might not be part of a job until several months in, so safety procedures should be reviewed right before that work begins.
Mr. Gardner, who is based in Pittsburgh, is a civil engineering expert who specializes in construction safety for Robson Forensic in Lancaster. He said he has worked at job sites where Fay was one of the contractors and described the firm as “very safety-oriented.”
“Construction is inherently dangerous,” he said. “Sometimes you can do everything properly and [stuff] happens.
“But an accident the magnitude of this one doesn’t happen without repercussions.”
Since the fire, PennDOT has been working with the contractor, engineering consultants and experts from Carnegie Mellon and Lehigh universities to monitor the safety of the bridge and design a repair plan. Parts are being fabricated to attach a 26.5-foot steel brace on each side of the damaged chord, and jacks and possibly heat will be used to try to stretch it back to its original length, which was compressed by 1⅝ inches.
Parts should begin arriving today, Mr. Cessna said, but crews have been making progress by replacing temporary bolts on the damaged chord with longer, permanent bolts.
PennDOT hopes repairs are finished so the bridge can be reopened Monday.
Fay’s reconstruction work includes deck replacement, painting, structural steel work and new signs. About 55,000 drivers use the bridge daily.
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Pittsburgh Public Schools Call 2-Hour Delay Tuesday Due To Closure September 5, 2016 3:59 PM By Ralph Iannotti
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Thousands of Pittsburghers will be going back to work Tuesday morning following the long Labor Day weekend, but they’ll be coming into city without the benefit of the Liberty Bridge.
The span has been closed since a fire last Friday.
Anticipating traffic delays, the Port Authority is putting a dozen additional buses in service, and also increasing “T” service. Also, Pittsburgh Public Schools will operate on a two-hour delay Tuesday because of expected traffic delays.
Shawn Wilk, who lives in the Bon Air neighborhood, said, “Traffic has been bad anyway recently because of bridge construction, but I think [Tuesday], with the bridge closed, it’s going to be a lot worse.”
Another South Hills driver, Joshua Horsley, told KDKA-TV’s Ralph Iannotti, “It’s definitely going to be difficult to get to work on Tuesday, but there’s not much you can do about it, you know what I mean?”
Dan Cessna, PennDOT’s District 11 Executive, said, “The day after Labor Day is typically a day when people are getting back to a normal routine; but Tuesday, I expect will be anything but normal for South Hills drivers.”
Welding sparks flew last Friday afternoon, igniting an intense fire that burned to 1,200 degrees and began melting the major support beam of the Liberty Bridge, which engineers say was only minutes away from collapse.
“Fortunately, the good service from the fire bureau, getting here very quickly, immediately getting the fire extinguished resulted in that catastrophe not happening,” Cessna said.
PennDOT is now working around the clock to repair it. That section of the beam is now bent and shrunken, and must be bracketed on both sides by new steel plates. The cost of all this will be born by the general contractor, JB Fay.
“With the benefit of hindsight, this operation would have been conducted in a different way to avoid that risk even existing. The reality is it happened. Our contractor is stepping up to the plate with full responsibility here,” Cessna said.
The plates will be lifted into place by a crane and will reinforce the beam, supporting the weight of the bridge in that section and allowing the flow of traffic once again.
“The plan would be that by tomorrow the plates would be manufactured, assembly would start on Wednesday,” Cessna said.
And the work will continue through the week and the weekend in anticipation of a reopening next Monday morning. But until then, traffic promises to be nightmare.
Although, PennDOT plans to reopen the Liberty Tunnel to inbound traffic to at least allow some commuters to access the South Side by McArdle Roadway.
“The main commuters who would typically cross the bridge and into the city, they will be detoured,” Cessna said.
Pittsburgh Public Schools called for a two-hour delay on Tuesday due to the impact of the bridge closure. Officials say the delay will place a majority of students on the road after morning rush hour, “reducing potentially long wait times for the district’s smallest students.”
Some other schools are delaying their schedule as well, check the growing list on our School Delays & Closings page here.
The Port Authority is adding additional bus and rail service to commuters who use the bridge.
In a statement, the Port Authority says: “Port Authority has added limited amounts of bus and light rail service to its schedules this week to help accommodate additional riders. Riders should allow extra travel time during the week.”
Officials say they will operate two additional two-car rail trains and 12 additional buses throughout the week.
According to the Port Authority, PennDOT has offered to pay for the cost of the additional service.