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Mar 13, 2008 8:34 am US/Eastern
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Metal Debris Falls From Ben Franklin Bridge Rails
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
PATCO officials are investigating reports of metal debris falling from their rail line along the Ben Franklin Bridge.
The heavy metal pieces recently fell onto 2nd Street below the bridge span in Old City.
Witness Willie Maybine said a PATCO high-speed line was headed towards Philadelphia early last week when several pieces metal came loose from the tracks and dropped nearly 50 feet to the street below.
"I thought it was going to hit a car, but the car moved out of the way just in time," Maybine said
Maybine, who works at nearby parking garage, removed the metal debris from the roadway and later showed them to CBS 3.
Inspectors from the Delaware River Port Authority and PATCO examined the bridge on Wednesday after a phone call from CBS 3.
PATCO President and DRPA C.E.O. John J. Matheussen said the metal pieces make up a clamp that holds the rail line to the wooden railroad ties.
"We're concerned about the safety of pedestrians or vehicles passing underneath the bridge," Matheussen said.
PATCO's chief engineers and a 2007 inspection report have said the tracks are safe for both trains and pedestrians below. But Matheussen wondered how PATCO inspectors, who check the tracks twice a week, could miss the deteriorating metal.
"Their job is to go out there, find anything that may be amiss, anything that perhaps looks like it is worn out, that it's broken and their job is to repair them on the spot," he said.
PATCO is examining the fallen pieces and Matheussen said inspections will become more stringent in the future. He said the agency is considering possibly placing netting under the bridge as a precaution.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)