How vulnerable is the Burlington-Bristol Bridge to ship collision? Check it out.

A 623-foot, 33,000-ton cargo vessel lost power as it headed south on the Delaware River near Bristol.

As the Agia Irini drew closer to the heavily traveled Burlington-Bristol Bridge, the crew heeled the ship hard to port, and she ran aground at Burlington City, plowing up river muck as its bow nosed toward the city’s promenade walk.

There were no injuries or damage in that 2015 incident. The crew averted what could have been a disaster on the scale of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge into the Patapsco River in the Baltimore metro area.

It turns out the Burlington-Bristol Bridge is among the most vulnerable to a similar catastrophe, according to a report in The New York Times.

USA TODAYHow Francis Scott Key Bridge was lost: A minute-by-minute visual analysis of the collapse

The Times examined federal safety records for the nation’s bridges which carry 10,000 or more vehicles per day. Among the 98 flagged by the feds as most at risk is the aging, center-lift span, which turn 100 years old in 2031.

Our report from 2015Cargo ship runs aground in Burlington City; no injuries or pollution reported

The Times reports that the B-B, like a lot of bridges, is imperiled by degrading barriers that surround its piers, which are anchored into bedrock at the bottom of the Delaware River.

It is “one of several along the Delaware River — including the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge and the Ben Franklin Bridge, both gateways to Philadelphia — where inspectors found deteriorated protection systems around the bridge piers,” the Times reports.

What will be done?

Michael McCarron, director of operations at the Burlington County Bridge Commission, which owns and maintains the bridge, did not immediately return a message from this news organization.

However, in The Times piece, he is paraphrased, stating that “repair work this year will involve some attention to the bridge’s protection system.”

The report continues: “At the same time, (Burlington County) is focusing on how to evacuate the bridges in the event of a looming collision, using tower operators who are in constant communication with vessels and a police force always at the ready.”

The paper reports the Delaware Memorial Bridge is undergoing a $93 million retrofit to its piers to avoid a calamity, which includes concrete buttresses called “dolphins.”

“Each (concrete dolphin) is 80 feet in diameter and rooted 45 feet deep in the riverbed, that will guide any troubled ships away from the bridge,” the paper reports.

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@couriertimes.com.