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1 1 (April 5, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveoxb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: L a Congressional * Research Service- Key Bridge Collapse: Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Considerations April 5, 2024 On March 26, 2024, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed due to a cargo ship colliding with a bridge support tower. The collapse caused loss of life and disrupted numerous critical distribution functions associated with the Port of Baltimore, and severed a major highway artery. Media reports suggested that factors contributing to the collapse included absence of adequate protection for bridge supports from shipping collision impacts and the bridge design, which made the entire structure vulnerable to the loss of a single support. The national critical infrastructure security and resilience (CISR) enterprise prioritizes mitigating threats and hazards such as terrorist bombings, the effects of aging, extreme weather events, and cyberattacks. Catastrophic accidents are more commonly regarded as matters of industrial or environmental safety, rather than infrastructure security. However, the collapse of the Key Bridge suggests that safety risks may also affect infrastructure security and continuity of national critical functions-i.e., the ramming of the bridge by a large ship had the same effects regardless of intent of the crew. This Insight examines how major incidents (apparently) not involving malicious intent, such as the Key Bridge collapse, may evidence broader systemic risks to infrastructure security and resilience that may not be fully considered within the existing framework of public-private CISR partnerships at the federal and state levels. Although the risks of catastrophic accidents to critical infrastructure might seem apparent in hindsight, the federal infrastructure risk management plan for transportation systems (including ports, bridges, and vessels) did not consider them in depth. Federal and Maryland authorities invested heavily in anti- terrorism measures in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies, but regarded a potential accidental collision as being largely hypothetical and cost-prohibitive to guard against. A media account published in the wake of the Key Bridge incident detailed years-long risk management efforts focused on maritime anti-terrorism patrols and structural inspections. A former senior Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) official quoted in the account said, It never occurred to anybody that a ship traversing the narrow channel might lose control and strike a critical support structure. MDTA is an independent, self-funding state agency that owns and operates certain toll bridges and roads in Maryland, including the Key Bridge. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12344 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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