Bridges around the country share the same vulnerability to a ship collision as the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, including the Commodore Barry Bridge that’s accessed on the I-95 side in Chester, writes Mike Baker, Anjali Singhvi, Helmuth Rosales, David W. Chen and Elena Shao for The New York Times.

The Delaware River Port Authority is expediting a safety review for the Commodore Barry Bridge following the Key Bridge collapse.

The bridge’s piers were buttressed with islands of rocks in 2008, but engineers will now take another look to see if more protection is needed.

The Commodore Barry Bridge has “fracture critical” designs, which means if a key component fails, it would create a wider collapse of the bridge span.

Inspections in recent years showed 309 major bridges on navigable waterways in the United States have protection systems around foundations that are deteriorating, outdated or non-existent.

The Biden Administration did push through legislation in 2021 to use $40 billion to repair or replace bridges, but it covers only a third of an estimated 43,000 considered in poor condition.

Read more about the status of the Commodore Barry Bridge and other bridges across the U.S. in The New York Times.