In the wake of the disastrous collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, following a barge crash last month, speculation began to grow that other bridges could be targeted by America’s enemies.
Reports indicated that the cargo ship involved in the collision lost power shortly before striking the bridge, sparking theories that might have been sabotaged as part of a coordinated attack on the U.S.
🚨 Lara Logan Sounds the Alarm on the Baltimore Bridge Collapse
“We are in an undeclared war & Intelligence Agencies are Telling me it was an Act Cyber Terrorism”
• Why is the Biden Administration telling the country when his own Intelligence Agencies are telling him it is?… https://t.co/Z3ud95ucZw pic.twitter.com/c2uBciisqV
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) March 26, 2024
Such theories were subsequently fueled by the report that a cargo ship similarly lost power near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in the waters between New Jersey and New York.
As the U.S. Coast Guard reported at the time: “The vessel regained propulsion and was assisted to safely anchor in Stapleton Anchorage, outside the navigable channel just north of the Verrazzano Bridge, by three towing vessels.”
Late last week, another disconcerting incident was reported, this time along the Ohio River. According to reports on Friday, several nearby bridges were closed when 26 barges somehow broke free and drifted without power into the water.
Most notably, the McKees Rocks Bridge near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was temporarily shut down as authorities warned that at least one of the cargo ships could collide with it.
Fortunately, such a disaster was averted, as Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesperson Steve Cowan explained.
“The police department closed the bridge until our bridge unit was able to inspect the structure,” he said. “They found no damage.”
Three of the ships were reportedly empty, while the remaining 23 contained coal and other forms of dry goods at the time of the incident. Other bridges and docks along the Ohio River were hit, causing significant damage in some cases.
The barges involved were all operated by Campbell Transportation Company, which subsequently acknowledged responsibility for the incident and confirmed that it was “actively responding to a recent development involving a multi-barge breakaway in Pittsburgh.”
Regardless of the root cause of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, U.S. intelligence officials advise that, in addition to six deaths and widespread job losses, the vulnerability can now be exploited by America’s enemies.
“We have not seen indications that adversaries are actively exploiting the incident or related disruptions, but foreign adversaries have used an opportunistic approach to advancing a broad range of security, economic, and other strategic interests following similar U.S. disasters,” one report concluded.
