Keystone Today

While President Joe Biden traveled to Pittsburgh to promote his infrastructure law, which is focused on repairing roads and bridges, a bridge collapsed.

Biden was not surprised, as he recognized the poor conditions of many of Pennsylvania's bridges.

“More than 3,300 bridges across Pennsylvania and over 7,500 miles of highway (are) in poor condition,” Biden told CNN. “It also means jobs, replacing lead water pipes so families in 10 million homes and in 400,000 schools and child care centers can drink clean water, not lead-based. Jobs providing the labor and infrastructure, making high-speed internet affordable and available everywhere in America. Cities, suburban and rural areas so that nobody is left behind.”

Biden is concerned whether any one of these thousands of low-quality bridges could cause more harm. He says his infrastructure law will address these concerns.

“Now just 74 days after signing that law, we’re already making tangible differences for highways, ports, high-speed internet, clean air, clean water,” Biden said in a speech in Pittsburgh, according to CNN. “That includes $1.6 billion over the next five years for Pennsylvania to repair its bridges.”

The morning of Jan. 28., the Forbes Avenue bridge near Pittsburgh's Frick Park collapsed.

“Thoughts and prayers to all impacted by the bridge collapse near Frick Park,” Rep. Dan Deasy (D-Pittsburgh) tweeted Jan. 28. “Thank you to all first responders!”

Biden was set to visit Pennsylvania to talk about infrastructure the same day as the bridge collapse.

On Jan. 14, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced more than $27 billion to states and tribal transportation facilities to fix approximately 15,000 bridges nationwide.

“The Biden-Harris administration is thrilled to launch this program to fix thousands of bridges across the country — the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, according to the Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. “Modernizing America’s bridges will help improve safety, support economic growth and make people’s lives better in every part of the country — across rural, suburban, urban and tribal communities.”