President Biden visited the site of a Pittsburgh bridge that collapsed hours before his arrival in the Steel City Friday and vowed to kick-start a national effort to repair faulty infrastructure.
Biden’s motorcade reached the remains of the Fern Hollow Bridge just after 1 p.m. The span had given way about six hours earlier, injuring 10 people — three of whom had to be hospitalized. No fatalities were reported.
“It’s incredible,” Biden said as he surveyed the wreckage before praising the efforts of emergency personnel.
“It’s probably too early for joggers to be down here,” Biden was heard telling a first responder.
“There was a few joggers, actually,” a worker answered. “There was a few. One of them actually helped us get some people out of the cars.”
“It’s a miracle, Mr. President,” another man said.
“It really is. It really is,” Biden agreed.
“I didn’t realize there are literally more bridges in Pittsburgh than any other city in the world,” the president added. “We’re going to fix them all. Not a joke.”
Biden’s trip to Pittsburgh had been scheduled in advance to promote his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, signed in November, which puts $110 billion toward roads and bridges.
