24.5 % of Nation's Bridges longer than 20 feet "Structurally Deficient"
 

Nearly a quarter of the nation's roughly 600,000 major bridges carry more traffic than they were designed to bear, according to reports based on federal government data.


The Interstate 35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River during rush hour Wednesday.

more photos » Experts said Thursday that the problem stems from a lack of money and leadership.

Federal Highway Administration data from 2006 shows that 24.5 percent of the nation's bridges longer than 20 feet were categorized as "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete" (data from Utah and New Mexico was from 2005).

"Our bridges are not in very good condition in this country," said Ruth Stidger, editor in chief of the trade publication Better Roads, which compiled the data.

Some states are worse than others. Arizona and Rhode Island have a similar number of structurally deficient or functionally obsolete bridges -- 384 and 405 respectively. In Arizona, however, that's 5 percent of its total bridges, while in Rhode Island, it's more than half. See how many problem bridges are in your state »

While the "structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete" monikers don't indicate the crossings are treacherous, they do imply serious problems, Stidger said.

The Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River during Wednesday rush hour was deemed structurally deficient two years ago.


Recent inspections did show "concerns about stress and fatigue" in aspects of the bridge but did not result in calls for immediate restrictions on the bridge, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Thursday. See photos of the disaster »

Structurally deficient, Stidger said, generally means the bridge can't carry the traffic it was designed to accommodate. Usually, restricting traffic to light vehicles can alleviate any dangers.

Functionally obsolete is a different story, Stidger said, explaining that bridges carrying this tag also carry major design problems, diminishing their load-carrying capacity. Functionally obsolete bridges "probably should be replaced," she said.

In its most recent report card on the nation's infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation's bridges a grade of "C" and said that in 2003 27.1 percent of them were deficient. Watch why some bridges need repairs »

Casey Dinges, a staff leader on the report card, said "structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete" are technical terms used by the federal government.

"Neither one means failure is imminent or that your life is in danger or that you should be afraid to get in your car," he said. "That said, we still have pretty serious concerns about the overall state of the nation's infrastructure."

The report also said bringing all the nation's bridges up to snuff would cost $188 billion over the next two decades.

While the number might sound staggering to some, Dinges says it's "doable."

"That's simply maintaining what we are doing right now," he said.

"New technology, money -- there are resources involved, but I think the big thing is really political leadership, and that has to come at all levels of government," he said.

"There has to be an honest discussion about the financial resources it takes to maintain these systems," he said, adding that infrastructure needs to be a priority.

"There are no Republican bridges. There are no Democratic drinking water purification facilities. We all use these systems," he said.

But Stidger said states aren't getting the money they need to repair their roads and bridges. They're forced to resort to a process of "patch, patch, patch and nothing ever gets repaired," she said.

She likened the process to putting a Band-Aid on a broken elbow and said, "There's only so much you can do with inadequate funding."

The bulk of Highway Trust Fund revenue comes from an 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax. The fund is the primary source of federal money for transportation infrastructure and the interstate highway system.

More information
ASCE report card
Problem bridges by state
National bridge inspection standards
That tax has not been adjusted since 1993, despite inflation and sharp increases in construction costs, according to the fund's Web site.

"In the eyes of many, political resistance to raising the tax, or indexing it to inflation, remains almost insurmountable in the current climate," the Web site states.

The fund suggests exploring alternative sources of revenue, including tolls, public-private partnerships or a mileage-based tax.

But even if all the money Congress has approved from transportation improvements was doled out to the states, it still would not be enough, Stidger said.

The latest numbers show that of the nation's 595,185 bridges longer than 20 feet, 145,996 have some sort of problem.

So, should the state of the nation's roads and bridges strike fear into the heart of the American commuter?

"Normally, I would say no," Stidger said, "but if I lived in Minnesota and drove over that bridge every day, I would not be a happy camper."

Overall, city, state and county engineers do a fine job inspecting bridges, reporting deficiencies and addressing those deficiencies with the resources they have, Stidger said.

But as Wednesday's tragedy demonstrated, sometimes those efforts are insufficient.

The Interstate 35W bridge was under repair when it suddenly collapsed in a manner that left engineers familiar with the bridge baffled. See a map of the bridge »

"I am totally puzzled as to why both ends of the bridge would come down all at once," said Ted Galambos, a University of Minnesota engineering professor. "I don't think it was overload, so it could have been either some fatigue, failure or some sudden buckling that would cause the failure."

The Federal Highway Administration says this would be only the second bridge to fail for structural reasons in 20 years. The agency said most bridges are safe and those that should be closed will be.

Additionally, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday called for the authorization of $250 million in emergency spending for the Interstate 35W bridge. States are usually limited to $100 million for such emergencies, which is why the legislation is needed.


"You can't not deal with it. Bridges have to perform," Dinges said.

Yeah - but aren't we all full of the Lord's Joy because the Iraqi people are free!!!!!

Yeah, I'm giddy. :)


IMO, fixing our ailing 20th century infrastructure is not enough. We really need to think about the infrastructure we will need for the 21st century. Our global competitiveness will likely be impacted by this.

QUOTE: "But Stidger said states aren't getting the money they need to repair their roads and bridges. They're forced to resort to a process of "patch, patch, patch and nothing ever gets repaired," she said."

I live near Branson Missouri. Small town population wise (country music mecca now) that sees over two million visitors a year now.

They have a bridge that spans a section of the Taneycomo Lake (built probably in the 1920's-30's?) maybe 1/8 mile in length, narrow 2 lanes, on any given moment in the summer (tourist season) is mostly bumper to bumper with traffic. Surface is so pot-holed (as of yesterday) I hate driving across it in my 4-WD truck! Sitting on this bridge, you can feel it vibrate and "roll" as large trucks move over it. Patching is all I have seen accomplished in 30 years!

Another disaster in the making.

It's Bush's fault. And so is 9-11.

now you are learning... for failing to secure the infra-structure in this country. .. the 395 Million $ Embassy in Baghdad?? right on schedule. no problems there.

the bridges in America? well, no money, despite the highest taxes collected in history. .. more accidents will happen I'm afraid, with more people killed.

The federal fund for bridge repair never even gets used up, the states are to blame here for not tending their own problems. This was the case before the Iraq war and it still is.

Past that, it one damn bridge guys, this isn't even a trend....just one damn bridge. **** happens.

yeah, the 50 years of neglect is closely tied to the problems in the middle east:rolleyes: That GD GW Bush has been screwing up this country since he was 5 years old, obviously

Fortunately the road surface most probably isn't a structural part of the bridge. Maybe you are lucky and the money is going into maintaining the structure and not the road surface.

Portland is in the middle of a several-year, $1BN project to refurbishing all of its bridges (7 or more, I think, cross the Willamette). It is a constant inconvenience to drivers as major traffic arteries are disrupted and closed, and progress is slow (as in, a full 2 years to refurb the Burnside Bridge). But I must confess today I feel a little less inconvenienced.

When was the last bridge collapse of note 'before' this one?

If there's 600,000 bridges in the U.S.A., and one bridge collapses every (x) years, and (y) is the number of cars that pass over those bridges, (in the hundreds of millions each day, I bet), and the last bridge collapse was in 19xx,

C'mon, math majors. Help me out. But I can tell you I'll take those odds.

Unfortunate tradgedy? yes. Worry? not much. I bet you're as likely to win PowerBall.

Of course, we can only assume that more and more of our 20th century bridges will collapse in time as they get older and older.

A couple years ago, I posted something similar; one of the more enlightened responses was that the engineers organization (can't recall the name) had a vested interest in a bad infrastructure report.

Replace 'bridge collapse' with '9/11' and then try to justify the billions we've spent in Iraq. Show your work.

You're an idiot. MN has *plenty* of money to take care of its infrastructure...the problem is the funds such as the vehicle excise tax are missapropriated for things that do not pertain to transportation or infrastructure. Too many feel good projects like ballparks and the constant K-12 education mantra. That doesn't even have anything to do with the federal government. There's more major road construction improvements going on in MN than most drivers here can stand. The last Governor pissed a whole lot of money into our light rail fallicy and robbed critical roadways of much needed funds, setting everything behind in the name of "feel good" mass transit.

Stick to stuff that you know something about.

OLD NEWS. The news wants this to be seen as a new discovery or something. This issue has existed for a long time.

It is simple. You (Mr. Politician) have $X,XXX. You can spend it on rehabbing a bridge, or starting an after-school program. You (Mr. Politician) have ambissions of re-election or running for a higher office. Which one of these is going to accomplish your goal?

The federal government is HARDLY the place to start when doing the silly-assed finger pointing that is ensuing now.

Maybe the voting public should point some fingers at themselves for accepting the horsescheisse fashion in which we elect our government officials. Does it REALLY matter what the politicians race, creed, gender, drug-use 20 years ago, position on abortion, religion in school, etc is? How about HOW THEY PLAN TO SPEND THE MONEY THAT THEY TAKE FROM YOU?!?!?!

I could have written the past 2 days worth of news myself. The world is so predictable that I should just stop bothering to open my eyes, because I don't need to.

WAH!!!! A bridge fell!!!! Whose fault is it? Why, its the president! Its the NHTSA!!! Its a government conspiracy! The mayor did it to get more federal highway funding! It has to be 100% the fault of somebody right here, right now, that we can point at and ***** at. I mean, things like this don't take 50 years of continual mismanagement and misappropriation of funds to more popular programs.

I am drowning in my own vomit and disdain. Screw every single news report on this. All garbage. All of it.

Well put rammstein.

It is Bush's fault. Sure. But not more than every other politician of the past 40 years.

From a politicans perspective, building shiney new things gets you votes, while maintaining old things is boring and costly. Ultimately its our fault, the voters.

I'll bet the local coverage is all the same, nationwide...Here in Oregon? "We need more money to solve this crisis!"


Question: What have you been doing with the $ Billions we're already giving you?"

HardDrive, you forgot to add:

"Here in Seattle, we are very aware of Structurally Deficient Bridges"

I can tell you what they are doing here, rather than fixing the actual roads right by my office on Watt Ave. They are spending a ton of dough to cut down trees and put in a sidewalk that is not needed, putting in a very pretty wrought iron fence on the center island, with ersatz crows standing on top of it and some lovely ducks looking like they are about to take flight to the top of a garish, faux palm tree on the median. They are also improving the bus stops, in the hopes that they can get someone to ride them. Year later, the road is rutted asphalt that could hole the oil pan of some cars just changing lanes.

We give them adequate funds for highway repair, in California the money does not always get where it is supposed to be though. They neglect that stuff here and we have earthquakes from time to time.

24.5 % of Nation's Bridges longer than 20 feet "Structurally Deficient"
 

That's nothing, 89.9% of the Nation's on-ramps are "Mentally Deficient."