Nation’s Bridges Face Increase Scrutiny

In light of Wednesday’s I-35 Minneapolis bridge collapse, officials are scrambling to inspect many of the nation’s structurally deficient bridges.

Currently there are more than 73,000 bridges considered by safety officials to be “structurally deficient”, a designation given whenever a bridge is under repair, restricts access to heavy trucks, or is closed.

Officials in five states – North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, and New Jersey are among the first to drastically step up efforts to inspect bridges in an effort to avert another disaster like Wednesday’s collapse.

Missouri, with 10,000 bridges is trying to inspect all its bridges, with a special emphasis on all deck arc truss bridges, the kind involved in the Minnesota disaster.

“We’re figuring out how many similar structures and where they are,” said Jeff Briggs, Missouri Transportation Department spokesman. Any bridges judged to be deficient are going to be immediately closed for repairs.

Political leaders and safety officials are trying to convince the public that the vast majority of the nation’s 73,694 bridges are structurally sound. It may be a hard sell to a public that has seen video replays of the collapse splashed across television screens.

The dust had hardly settled from Wednesday’s collapse before Democratic lawmakers were criticizing the Bush administration for failing to adequately fund infrastructure projects.

Repairing all of the deficient bridges would cost $188 billion, or about $9.4 billion annually for tweny years, assuming no more bridges fell into a state of disrepair during that time.

It is estimated that an additional $30 billion is needed to shore up bridges, and lawmakers are at a loss as to where funding would come from to make the needed repairs. The Federal Highway Trust Fund, from which the money for road and bridge repairs comes, receives its funding from Federal Gasoline Tax revenue. Officials are skittish about increasing the tax on all gasoline and diesel transactions for fear of a backlash from voters already angry about high prices.

Wednesday’s collapse killed 6 and injured 79. State and Federal officials are fearful that as many as 30 people still remain unaccounted for. .

~ Kenneth Speegle for SafetyIssues.com