Biden inspects collapsed Pittsburgh bridge on visit to improve city's infrastructure

Pennsylvania: A decades-old bridge in Pittsburgh collapsed just hours before the President of the United States was due to visit the city and deliver his speech promising better infrastructure, NBC reported. President Joe Biden then promised to "repair it all" during the visit and he also inspected the Fern Hollow Bridge where emergency crews were toiling on it in sub-zero temperatures.

"The idea that we have been so far behind on infrastructure, for so many years - it's just mind-boggling," Biden was quoted as saying by Reuters, as he surveyed the damage.

The fifth-year old Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed with a sound as loud as a "jet engine" according to an emergency worker.

Rescuers rappelled at least 46 metres into Fern Hollow, and used ropes to pull people to safety after the snow-covered span over the ravine collapsed around 6 AM, local time. Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones said.

"They helped the firefighters that were here initially on scene, also did like a daisy chain, with hands just grabbing people and pulling them up," Jones said.

Ten people suffered minor injuries, including four who were taken to the hospital, city officials said. Jones added that crews would search under the bridge for any victims.

The incident was a high-profile example of the need to rebuild the nation's aging bridges, highways and other infrastructure with money from $1 trillion spending bill.

"There are another 3,300 bridges here in Pennsylvania, some of which are just as old and in just as decrepit condition as that bridge was, including here in Pittsburgh, the city of bridges," Biden said. "There's 43,000 nationwide and we're sending the money."

The American government had hoped to promote it's $500 billion infrastructure law passed last year which aims at revitalising the country's ailing and often dangerously old buildings, monuments and other key infrastructure necessities.