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A major bridge under renovation in Pittsburgh was shut down immediately following a fire that broke out on Sept. 2, putting the structure at risk of collapse.
The 88-year-old Liberty Bridge, a heavily traveled route over the Monongahela River connecting downtown Pittsburgh with its southern suburbs, caught fire at about 1:00 p.m. in a construction tarp used as containment for the painting operation and spread to plastic piping, according to Steve Cowan, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
Although the exact cause of the fire is under investigation, a spark from equipment is thought to have ignited a tarp used for containment, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. No one was injured in the incident, but officials from PennDOT indicated that heat from the blaze caused a 30-foot beam, or compression chord, to buckle.
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