The National Transportation Safety Board is urging Louisiana's transportation department to assess the safety of eight of its bridges, including almost all of the bridges crossing the Mississippi River in the state.

Had the MDTA conducted a vulnerability assessment based on recent vessel traffic, the agency would have been aware that the risk of a “catastrophic collapse from a vessel collision”

Sixty-eight bridges across the US should be assessed to see if they are at risk of collapse if hit by a ship, transportation safety officials found, while