Canadian Seaway Management Corp. says St. Lawrence bridges are safe after Baltimore collapse

Mar. 26—A bridge collapse in Baltimore prompted the Canadian side of the international group that manages the St. Lawrence Seaway to issue an assurance that the bridges spanning the river are safe.

Early on Tuesday morning, the Francis Scott Key Bridge that spans the Port of Baltimore plunged into the waters below it after a cargo freighter lost power and slammed into one of the bridge's supporting pilings. Six people, contract construction workers who were patching the asphalt roadway on the bridge, have been reported missing. Search efforts are ongoing.

Officials with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., the Canadian arm of the binational Seaway System, released a statement early Tuesday after the Baltimore collapse aimed at reassuring motorists and shipping crews that the bridges over the St. Lawrence River are safe and rigorously maintained.

"The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation wants to reassure the public and its stakeholders that bridge design and robust physical protections safeguard all structures along the marine corridor," the statement said. "With 24/7 operations vigilance over marine and vehicular traffic, the SLSMC ensures safe, secure and efficient passages for the public, commuters and marine traffic."

The corporation said safety is a core value, and the company maintains best-in-class risk management practices.

"Our thoughts remain with those affected by the incident in Baltimore," the statement reads.

While the management corporation maintains direct control over a handful of bridges along the river, with shared responsibilities with the U.S. Department of Transportation, many of the bridges along the waterway are managed by other corporations, including the Thousand Islands Bridge, maintained by the TI Bridge Authority and the Canadian Federal Bridge Corp. Limited.

A spokesperson for the management corporation directed questions from the Times about bridge safety along the Seaway to the U.S. Department of Transportation. U.S. DOT officials could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

There is only one incident of a bridge collision in recent memory along the Seaway. In August 2001, shipping along the Seaway was disrupted for two days at the height of shipping season after a freighter hit the Allanburg vertical lift bridge at the Welland Canal in Ontario, bursting into flames.

The freighter, the 730-foot Windoc, was carrying more than 25,000 tons of wheat when it hit the bridge, which had begun to lower before the ship had fully cleared it. The collision tore off the ship's wheelhouse and smokestack and set the ship ablaze. No deaths and only minor injuries were attributed to the incident, and the bridge operator was blamed for allegedly being high on painkillers and drunk on wine during the accident.

That bridge was out of commission for three months before it reopened that November. It remains an active and well-used crossing.