18,000 Busy Bridges Are Structurally Deficient, New Study Says

Bridges built during the post-World War II boom years are facing an increasingly urgent need for repair. Some 210 million trips are taken every day on structurally deficient bridges in our biggest cities, according to a new report. There are so many of those creaky bridges that they even outnumber McDonald's locations, 18,000 to 14,000.

A spokesman at Transportation for America, the nonprofit advocacy group that mined federal statistics to write the report, said it should serve as a "wake-up call."

The problem, said spokesman David Goldberg, is that our transportation legislation "was geared to build the interstate highway system, and that has not done such a good job at ensuring maintenance is done."

Even after the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis that killed 13 in 2007, states continue to divert some of the money meant for bridge repairs to building new highways instead.

"States should be held accountable for reducing the backlog on repair needs before they're given latitude to spend that money on something else," Goldberg said.

An opportunity for accountability, and for putting emphasis on fixing bridges already in existence instead of building new roads, may come with the re-authorization for the surface transportation bill that is currently pending in Congress. Legislators have until March to pass a new bill.

Just because 18,000 bridges in metro areas are "structurally deficient" doesn't mean they're on the verge of collapsing. But decaying bridges may in many cases cause state transportation agencies to step up inspections or even shut down bridges for repairs.

In September, Indiana officials shut down the Sherman Minton Bridge, a major commuter corridor in the Louisville, Ky., area, because of cracks in the structure built in 1962. Since then, 80,000 cars a day have had to find alternate routes to work and school.

Goldberg said stories like the Sherman Minton Bridge are a "cause for concern" because "we have to scramble and make ad hoc provisions to deal with emergency situations. At this stage in the evolution of our highway system, we can count on these crises emerging. So the next bill has to budget for that."

The study ranked Pittsburgh as the major city with the most structurally deficient bridges, some 1,133 of them. Every day in Los Angeles, some 34 million trips cross similarly lacking bridges. In and around New York City, another 17.5 million cars and trucks cross deficient bridges.

Comments

[den1953]

11:33 AM on 10/22/2011

Maybe at the beginning and the end of every bridge the state they are located in should post the Lords Prayer before and after you cross over it?

[AZreb]

10:17 AM on 10/22/2011

Is "deficient" being used now in place of "unsafe"? Guess deficient is a little more palatable in a headline. We are still pending $135,000,000 daily in Afghanistan to rebuild or build their infrasturcture and pay for schools, hospitals, libraries and the troops stationed there. Seems like other countries' needs come before those of our own country.

But we will be saving money since our troops are leaving Iraq? Don't count on it. The State Department's private army of mercenaries - 'scuse me - contractors will still be costing us millions if not billions to protect the huge white elephant embassy in Baghdad and also the other embassies in Iraq and the personnel.

And this really takes the prize - we are sending "aid" to China!!!! And have been for years now.

[bynddrvn5]

09:52 AM on 10/22/2011

We could put all of these troops coming home from Iraq to work on the roads and bridges.

Guess this is what happens when we privatize certain government functions. If you think the government is inefficient and overly expensive hand it over to some right wing thief who will take all of the tax payers money and deliver nothing in return.

[zelda777]

11:38 PM on 10/21/2011

So, when some bridges collapse and lots of people get killed or injured in the process, the GOP will blame the victims - it was their own fault for driving over the bridge when it fell.

[bahkey]

06:13 PM on 10/21/2011

But vote against the American patriot jobs bill act. Thanks repub/baggers, I build bridges for a living.
Any day now we'll see another disaster like Minnesota in 2005. If you don't want to rebuild obsolete
bridges now, WHEN? They only get more expensive.

[mmcgrew]

07:00 AM on 10/22/2011

Oh, you and your long-term thinking...........don't you know that the future is a hazy idea and it will take care of itself?

[bahkey]

01:23 PM on 10/22/2011

Yeah, we Progressives. Like Ford, Edison, Heinz, The Wright brothers,Jobs,MLK.,
Lech Walisa,President Obama are foolish forward thinking.

[George Broadway]

05:31 PM on 10/21/2011

Teachers, bridges, policeman, fireman... don't need 'em; but tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, now those are a must.

[Booji Boy]

05:04 PM on 10/21/2011

I hate to be so crass but let's face it, some people need to die.

[signgrrl]

07:55 PM on 10/21/2011

i hope you mean, for things to change regarding new infrastructure . . .

[Booji Boy]

11:31 PM on 10/21/2011

Of course.

"The Americans will always do the right thing... after they've exhausted all the alternatives." -- Winston Churchill

[HarryP]

04:25 PM on 10/21/2011

So when the next bridge collapses the gopplers in house and senate 'who denied money to put into the infrastucture to fix those old bridges' will blame the president for not doing anything to build new ones or at least to repair the old crumbling ones.
Who is willing to bet on this scenario?
(I just hope that no one will get hurt when this happens)

[Dr Marcus]

03:16 PM on 10/21/2011

On the Tappan Zee bridge, a major Hudson River crossing about 20 miles north of NYC, it's common occurrence for chunks of the roadway to fall in to river living a hole on the deck from where you can see the water below.They should make it a tourist attraction and with the revenue build a new bridge

[signgrrl]

07:56 PM on 10/21/2011

we used to use that bridge regularly to visit my aunt and uncle in Nyack.

[mmcgrew]

06:42 AM on 10/22/2011

from now on, you should take a kyack..........

It might actually be safer......

[mfitz11]

01:46 PM on 10/21/2011

This has become third world America, folks.
Should we be surprised that our infrastructure is crumbling?
That's just one aspect to living in a third world country.

[bahkey]

06:14 PM on 10/21/2011

Welcome to Bagger hell.

[builderman55]

11:27 AM on 10/21/2011

I'm just trying to figure out how the GOPlutocrat mantra of "we must cut taxes for the wealthiest" will get our failing infrastructure rebuilt... Maybe we could have a millionaires sponsor bridges and then, like sports stadiums, put their names on them. The Trump Bridge, the Jamie Dimon Overpass..

[mmcgrew]

06:43 AM on 10/22/2011

Make it gold and gaudy, Trump will find a way to have SOMEONE pay for it , if his name is on it......

[noteworthy1]

10:18 AM on 10/21/2011

structurally deficient means they need some maintenance. It doesn't mean they are at risk to fail. I guess that means my house is structurally deficient too, I have to clean out the gutters. My car is structurally deficient too because I need to get the tires rotated.

[pmoschetta]

10:24 AM on 10/21/2011

If you truly believe that "structurally deficient" means "needs some maintenance" come to Western Pennsylvania where over 100 bridges are CLOSED because they are deemed too deficient for use

[noteworthy1]

10:46 AM on 10/21/2011

did u read the article? It defined structurally deficient.

[George Broadway]

05:34 PM on 10/21/2011

Yeah, the article also mentioned I-35W bridge as being "structurally deficient" and that still managed to collapse. Certainly agree this doesn't mean there are 18,000 bridges which are going to collapse any day now, but it does mean they are being neglected. More specifically, we don't truly know the full extend, just that "stuff" should be done.

[dayzee10]

07:56 AM on 10/21/2011

Retealibanbaggerican Party answer....Let those bridges fall,I don't use them!

[OldTulsan]

04:09 PM on 10/21/2011

The top of the 1% have helicopters.

[mmcgrew]

06:45 AM on 10/22/2011

WE don't need no stinkin' bridges............

[El Chingaso]

06:23 AM on 10/21/2011

Evidence of systemic government incompetence in association with Wall Street hoodlums. The country' infrastructure is falling apart, while Washington et al give away all the cash to their bankster buddies. Criminal behavior at its finest...

[pmoschetta]

10:26 AM on 10/21/2011

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/10/20/republican-senator-lindsey-graham-supports-infrastructure-spending-but-not-for-america-for-libya/

The latest story that I am certain will make the HP news at some point today, is Senator Lindsay Graham's claim that we should rebuild the infrastructure of Libya with the use of taxpayer's money, but not on the infrastructure in our own country

[John michael Adams]

11:38 PM on 10/20/2011

Just Trust The Invisible Hand of the Free Market.
The Invisible Hand will fix all these bridges.