Concrete barriers on Maryland’s bridges and overpasses are not strong enough to withstand impact from large commercial vehicles, traffic safety advocates said.
Police and federal transportation officials Monday were continuing their investigation of the Bay Bridge crash, which killed 57-year-old John Robert Short, of Willards, seriously injured two others and stranded thousands of motorists for hours. The crash left a 15-foot gap in the concrete barrier — which safety advocates said are designed only to accommodate passenger vehicles — that protects motorists from a 30-foot drop to the Bay.
“This was an engineering failure,” said Lon Anderson, director of AAA Mid-Atlantic’s government affairs. “When a truck goes flying off a bridge, I don’t know what else you call it. The wall didn’t retain the truck.”
The crash was the third fatal one of its kind in four years. In March 2006, a truck carrying lumber fell onto Interstate 270 in Bethesda, killing one and injuring three. Four people died in January 2004 when a gas tanker crashed through an overpass barrier at Interstate 895 and 95 in Elkridge.
State transportation officials said the incident marked the first time a vehicle fell off the Bay Bridge in its 56-year history. The driver was heading west on the eastbound span when a motorist coming in the opposite direction crossed the center line, said Geoffrey Kolberg, chief engineer for the Maryland Transportation Authority.
Short’s truck rubbed into the barrier toward the right of the bridge, then cut across the span, hitting the barrier on the opposite side, Kolberg said. The truck rolled over the barrier and fell a short distance, he added.
“It was a combination of weight and direction and forces and angle — I don’t think this is normal,” Kolberg said. “It’s just not common.”
Kolberg said the bridge and concrete walls are designed according to nationally recognized standards by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
The right lane of the eastbound span of the bridge was reopened at 4 p.m. Monday, and a crane removed the 18-wheeler carrying Mountaire chicken from shallow waters about a quarter-mile from Kent Island.
The integrity of the concrete barrier will be examined as part of an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, agency spokesman Keith Hollaway said. The board sent two engineers to the scene, he added.
Jersey walls are required to accommodate the weight and force of the road’s average vehicle, said Douglas Hecox of the Federal Highway Administration. The barriers on the Bay Bridge are designed to protect passenger vehicles, and if similar crashes happened more often, the state may want to consider a new type of wall, he said.
“This was, thankfully, a rare circumstance,” Hecox added. “It’s unfortunate it happened.”
In a statement, Gov. Martin O’Malley said “every resource” was utilized to reopen the bridge. He called the incident “unique.”
“It goes without saying that the patience and understanding of the thousands of motorists who have had to deal with the traffic at the bridge since the incident is greatly appreciated,” he said.
AAA released a statement criticizing the state’s use of two-way traffic during bridge construction. About 70 percent of fatal cashes on the bridge since 1952 have occurred amid two-way traffic, Anderson said.
