Pittsburgh Mayor will sign disaster declaration of emergency after bridge collapse

The Mayor of Pittsburgh, Ed Gainey, has announced he will sign a disaster declaration of emergency after a major bridge collapsed in a city park last week.

The Mayor says the declaration will allow the city to use federal funds to speed up the cleanup and reconstruction of the Frick Park bridge, which collapsed last Friday, injuring ten people and dumping several cars and a Port Authority bus into the ravine below.

The collapse occurred hours before President Biden was set to give a speech nearby touting the need for an investment in infrastructure, including bridges.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed a proclamation of disaster emergency on Friday. The proclamation allowed officials to work faster at the scene and waived “time-consuming bidding and contract procedures” related to the reconstruction of the bridge. 

Federal investigators spent the weekend at the collapse site, and have vowed a complete investigation into the cause of the collapse.