(WJET/WFXP) — A new lawsuit alleges that 3 engineering firms and the City of Pittsburgh are at fault for the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge in 2022 which left 10 people injured. The lawsuit is against the City of Pittsburgh, CDM Smith Inc., Gannett Fleming, Inc., and Larson Design Group, Inc.

The lawsuit comes 3 months after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded its study into the accident which found that the City of Pittsburgh was at fault for the collapse. The NTSB found that the city did not adequately maintain or repair the bridge and failed to act on inspection reports, which led to the corrosion of the structure’s steel legs.

According to court documents, the engineering firms and the City of Pittsburgh all knew about major defects of the bridge since September 2005. The bridge was said to have moderate to severe corrosion with section loss to the cross-braces, drainage blockages, debris accumulation among other things. It goes on to say that over the next 16 years, the conditions only deteriorated, despite the city being recommended to do maintenance on the bridge in September 2005. Despite corrosion leaving up to 12-inch holes in the bridge, none of the firms have noted or flagged the problem.

Upon collapse, the debris fell 100 feet to a wood area below and severed a 16-inch natural gas pipeline which was below the bridge, further endangering the survivors.

The lawsuit alleges that not only did the engineering firms fail to recommend sufficient maintenance that would have prevented the collapse, they also incorrectly calculated the load analysis of the bridge which allowed the bridge to stay open when it should have been closed well before the collapse.

The suit alleges that as a result of the collapse which left the plaintiff, Daryl Luciani, with serious physical and psychological injures due to the collapse. After the collapse, Luciani was left permanently disfigured and now suffers from PTSD, these injures made it so he could no longer work as a bus driver.