Free Republic

President Joe Biden was criticized for remarks he made in which he falsely stated that he saw a bridge in Pittsburgh collapse. While speaking in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Biden spoke about Bidenomics and later brought up the topic of having seen the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, collapse. The Fern Hollow Bridge, which was built in 1973, collapsed on Jan. 28, 2022, according to the Associated Press. “Pittsburgh is a city of bridges. More bridges in Pittsburgh than any other city in America,” Biden claimed. “I watched that bridge collapse. I got there and saw it collapse,” Biden said...

The completion of the Fern Hollow Bridge construction in under a year and at a cost of $25 million is truly a feat that should be applauded by one and all. But it also points out the utter failure of our government to function on an expeditious and cost-conscious manner daily (“Editorial: Fern Hollow failure,” Jan. 29). Tom Wolf declared at the bridge opening ceremony, “This is the power of government that works for the people.” “Under normal circumstances this bridge would have taken 5 years to complete,” said Kate Thomson of the United States Department of Transportation. “This is...

Eleven months after a catastrophic collapse into a Frick Park ravine, a new Fern Hollow Bridge was celebrated Wednesday as a model of unprecedented intergovernmental cooperation and an engineering marvel, completed in the fraction of the time needed for similar projects. Final railing installation work continued as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and other elected officials gathered in the cold sunshine for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the four-lane Forbes Avenue span, which links Regent Square and surrounding neighborhoods to Squirrel Hill. The bridge could be open for traffic as early as Thursday, but the completion date PennDOT...

Line painting and other finishing touches continued Tuesday at the new Fern Hollow Bridge in the city’s East End, with a dedication ceremony planned Wednesday and completion of bridge reconstruction work anticipated Thursday, officials said. A date for reopening the bridge to traffic has not been set, according to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Cowan, but it was anticipated it would be within a week. The busy, 500-foot Forbes Avenue bridge, which connected Squirrel Hill to Point Breeze and Park Place, collapsed onto a popular hiking trail about 100 feet below the road in Frick Park in January. Ten...