Indiana Among Worst States For Bridges In US
- by Mabel Barber
- in Medical
- — Feb 1, 2018
More than 50,000 bridges across the United States were deemed 'structurally deficient, ' according to a new report by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.
At least 15 percent of the bridges in six states-Rhode Island (23 percent), Iowa (21 percent), West Virginia (19 percent), South Dakota (19 percent), Pennsylvania (18 percent) and Nebraska (15 percent)-fall in the structurally deficient category.
The Highway 12 bridge over Moccasin Creek in Aberdeen isn't the only one in the report.
According to an analysis of the U.S. Department of Transportation's just released 2017 National Bridge Inventory database, 54,259 of the nation's bridges are rated structurally deficient.
However, "functionally obsolete" does not communicate anything of a structural nature- a functionally obsolete bridge may be perfectly safe and structurally sound, but may be the source of traffic jams or may not have a high enough clearance to allow an oversized vehicle. A bridge is classified as structurally deficient and in need of fix if the rating on a key structural element is four or below.
The study shows the I-75 bridge over Segur Avenue and the I-75 bridge over Ottawa River are both structurally deficient.
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The Sarasota County bridge in question, according to the ARTBA study, has 24,750 daily crossings and is classified by ARTBA as a rural interstate bridge, of which there are 577 in Florida. "So the bridges built from 1980 until today are built to a higher standard than they were prior to that", he said.
Over the last five years, bridge investment has accounted for 22.4 percent of highway and bridge contract awards in the state, compared to an average of 28.9 percent nationwide.
54,259 of the nation's 612,677 bridges are rated "structurally deficient".
29 revealing deficiencies in a significant portion of the bridges that link the highway system. That bridge along would cost more than $2 million to fix. FDOT says it is in the preliminary planning phase for a replacement bridge. President Donald Trump is supposed to discuss his long-awaited infrastructure package at the State of the Union address January 30. Black says that an infrastructure package would have both short and long-term positive effects on the economy, which now loses $60 billion per year in just the trucking industry, in lost productivity and fuel just from traffic bottlenecks.
Those costs raise the prices on "everything we make, buy or export", Black said. - Crumbling bridges. It happened to one in Palm Beach County and it's what experts point to as an example of this nation's decaying infrastructure.
"It really comes down a failure of leadership in Congress to address some of these issues and provide additional funding", Black told NBC News.
