Five vehicles and one Port Authority bus were on the Forbes Avenue Bridge in Frick Park at the time of the collapse on Friday. Ten people were evaluated and treated for minor injuries, including some first responders. Three people were transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation.
President Joe Biden gave his speech shortly after the collapse. He said that the bridge had been rated in 鈥減oor鈥� condition for the past 10 years and that there are another 3,300 bridges in Pennsylvania. Some of these are just as old and in just as decrepit condition as that bridge was, he said 鈥渋ncluding here in Pittsburgh, the 鈥楥ity of Bridges鈥欌��.
Across the country, there are 45,000 bridges in 鈥減oor鈥� condition.聽 鈥淚t鈥檚 just simply unacceptable,鈥� said Biden. 鈥淚鈥檝e talked about it every time I鈥檝e come to Pittsburgh, and we finally got it done: a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including the largest investment in our nation鈥檚 bridges since Eisenhower put together the Interstate Highway System.鈥�
In Pennsylvania, that means at least US$1.6bn for bridges alone, including US$327m for bridge repairs.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get on with it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to move.聽 The next time, we don鈥檛 need headlines saying that someone was killed when the next bridge collapses.鈥�
Biden said that when a bridge is in disrepair, 鈥渋t literally can threaten lives鈥�. He added: 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e going to rebuild that bridge, along with thousands of other bridges in Pennsylvania and across the country, because it鈥檚 in our interest for our own safety鈥檚 sake and it generates commerce in a way that we can鈥檛 do now.鈥�
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