Maryland transportation leaders are reassuring the public that it’s safe to drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, after a picture circulating on social media prompted some drivers to question whether there was an infrastructure issue.
The image, which Kimberly Hutson told WJZ News her husband took while he was fishing last weekend, includes a yellow circle drawn around a support structure that looks to be off-center. It shows a section of bridge’s westbound span.
But the Maryland Transportation Authority said in a statement that it inspected the pier and “confirmed that there is no indication of movement or distress at the location.”
The agency said the picture of the pier cap looks to be off center, but the bridge girders, “the key structural components supporting the span — are aligned and centered with the pier cap.”
Positioning hasn’t changed since the bridge’s construction, the statement said.
“We want to reassure the public that both spans of the bridge are safe,” the agency said.
MDTA said it regularly conducts condition inspections on all of its facilities, “and ensuring the safety of these critical structures is the MDTA’s highest priority.”
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is an hour south of where the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge stands in Baltimore.