Biden promotes his plan to repair bridges after dramatic collapse in Pennsylvania

President Joe Biden on Friday touted the bipartisan infrastructure package that he signed into law in November, while also addressing the dramatic bridge collapse in Pittsburgh that occurred just hours before he arrived in the city.

Fern Hollow Bridge near Frick Park, the site of the collapse, had been rated in "poor condition" for the last 10 years, Biden said. Across the country, 45,000 bridges are in poor condition, a number Biden called "unacceptable."

"We saw today when a bridge is in disrepair, it literally can threaten lives," Biden said.

As soon as the bridge collapsed, Biden said he reached out to Pittsburgh's mayor, Ed Gainey, telling him that he was doing "a hell of a job."

Biden promoted the bipartisan infrastructure law, which he said will allocate $1.6 billion to Pennsylvania for repairing and restoring bridges. The law, Biden said, is also the largest investment in bridges since former President Dwight D. Eisenhower started the interstate highway system.

"This is the first time in the country's history that we dedicated a national program to repair and upgrade bridges," Biden said. "It's about time."

Biden said the funding from the infrastructure bill will make a difference for Pennsylvania.

"We're going to rebuild that bridge, along with thousands of other bridges in Pennsylvania and across the country because it's in our interests for our own safety's sake and it generates commerce in a way that we can't do now," Biden said. "That's part of how we're going to build a better America."

Biden also visited the site of the bridge's collapse prior to speaking at Carnegie Mellon University.

During his visit to the site, the president was joined by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Rep. Conor Lamb(D-Pa.) and Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, among others.

A local official told Biden upon his visit to the site that the low number and minor nature of the injuries from the collapse was a "miracle."

"It really is," Biden responded.

“These guys deserve an incredible amount of credit," Biden said, as he put his hand on the shoulder of a police officer who was helping at the scene.

The president said even as a longtime Pennsylvanian who has been coming to Pittsburgh "for a long time," he did not know that the city has the most bridges in the world.

"We're going to fix them all," Biden said.

Pittsburgh Public Safety officials warned residents in several social media posts on Friday morning to avoid the area near Forbes and Braddock avenues because of a “confirmed bridge collapse.” Personnel from the city’s bureaus of Fire, Police and Emergency Medical Services were responded to the incident.

Three people were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the public safety officials, and U.S. Army Reserve members are being deployed “to ensure there are no victims under the collapsed bridge.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf tweeted that his office was “monitoring the situation in Pittsburgh and prepared to provide support as needed.”

Public safety officials reported that there was “a strong smell of natural gas in the area” and later reported that a gas line had “been cut.” Officials also reported that the American Red Cross had been contacted “for victim assistance” and that a public information officer would provide any updates on injuries after arriving at the scene.

“Our team is in touch with state and local officials on the ground as they continue to gather information about the cause of the collapse,” the White House said earlier in the day. “The President is grateful to the first responders who rushed to assist the drivers who were on the bridge at the time. The President will proceed with trip planned for today and will stay in touch with officials on the ground about additional assistance we can provide.”