On today’s episode of The Confluence:
Fern Hollow Bridge showed signs of deterioration months before its collapse
(0:00 - 9:12)
The morning of January 28, the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh collapsed, injuring several people, the same day President Joe Biden was visiting Pittsburgh to talk about infrastructure. The collapse brought with it a flurry of questions about the condition of the bridge, in particular, how could this happen?
A Right-to-Know request, submitted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, revealed some of the bridge conditions observed and photos collected during an inspection in October 2021 by Gannet-Fleming, a Green Tree-based engineering firm.
“When you see these photos, it's pretty alarming,” says Sean Hamill, reporter with the Post Gazette. The report included about 90 color photos with images of rusted steel on the bridge, deteriorating concrete, and more.
“All the experts that we talked to from the beginning, even before we had the inspection report, said the only way you have this kind of deterioration on structural steel support legs beneath the bridge is if there is a maintenance problem on top of the bridge,” says Hamill. “There was water, probably from winter salts leaking through getting down on to these supports.”
How a grassroots campaign launched Doug Mastriano to become the GOP nominee for governor
(9:15 - 18:30)
Republican voters looking to pick a candidate for governor had many choices. On the ballot last Tuesday, there were nine candidates listed, two of whom dropped out by election day. In this crowded field, retired Army colonel and state Sen. Doug Mastriano clinched the GOP nomination for the general election in November.
But it was no secret rank-and-file Republicans were rallying around other candidates leading up to the primary. So, how did we get here?
“So he started [in the state Senate] as a backbencher, … And then COVID hits and he becomes one of the leading voices against Governor Tom Wolf, becomes one of the leading voices against the mask mandates,” says Stephen Caruso, Capitol reporter with Spotlight PA. Caruso says while Mastriano was not a strong fundraiser, he had many small-dollar donations and leveraged social media, often posting Facebook Live videos of himself.
The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in Monday to Thursday at 9 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators take an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here or wherever you get your podcasts.
