How Safe Is Your Bridge?
August 2nd, 2007 by Jared MorrisUpon doing preperation for today’s broadcast (”How Safe is the Indian River Inlet Bridge?) I came across an interesting article on Poynter. According to Poynter, The Minnesota bridge was deemed “structurally deficient.” Apparently, there are hundreds of bridges across the nation that fit that same high standard for construction.
from Poynter: Hundreds of thousands of bridges nationwide, probably some near you, are also on that list… To get you started looking at the condition of your state’s bridges, try this Web site. It is part of the federal bridge-inventory list. You can find out which bridges in your state are structurally deficient, functionally obsolete or both…. Click here to see how many old bridges you have in your state. It is a national bridge inventory sorted by construction year.
Did you ever see that cinematic Dick Gear masterpiece, The Mothman Prophecies? The Minnesota Bridge collapse video posted online by CNN reminds one of that key scene from the movie.
In thinking about Minnesota, we turn an eye back towards ourselves and our own ailing Indian River Inlet Bridge. Could a similar fate be in store for us? Well, the standing traffic volume is not quite the same on Delmarva as it would be in some of the nation’s larger metropolitan eras… That Minnesota bridge was a main artery in and out of the city of Minneapolis. (I hope Prince is okay.)
According to Mr. Tidal Erosion over at Delmarvanow.com, appox. 14,000 vehicles travel the Indian River Span every day during the off-season, and during the summer it more than doubles. How safe is IR? According to the state.. it’s our “most troubled bridge.”
today’s article from Gannett: The state Department of Transportation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have concluded the bridge must be replaced because tidal action has gouged deep holes in the inlet floor, undermining the bridge’s piers and exposing steel supports to saltwater corrosion.
Should this be something for us to worry about? Well, it would seem a more worthy project than swimming the icey depths of the Indian River Inlet. Study this security video posted online by CNN of the Minnesota bridge collapse… and pray that it doesn’t happen here. Seacrest Out.
August 2nd, 2007 at 5:21 pm
That is a very good question. I think the ‘real’ number of bridges in need of repair is in the tens of thousands! Some estimates of deficiency is around 50 to 70 thousand bridges. When our State and Local governments consistently under-fund these roads and bridge projects; there will be very dangerous consequence. Let’s continue to spend the billions daily in Iraq and subtract from much needed projects in the US. Of the 70, 000 bridges in need of repair; I DO wonder how many could be brought up to standards with the trillion dollars being spent to rebuild IRAQ.
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:06 pm
I guess Deldot feels it will cross that bridge when they come to it.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Agreed, Jared, we do have something to worry about re the Indian River Inlet Bridge, the same thought occurring to me in the aftermath of the MN bridge tragedy.
One point being made about the Minnesota 35W Bridge is that the State has been reducing expenditures for infrastructure maintenance, even knowing that this bridge had significant deficiencies, like 50 of 120 checkpoints failed. This neglect occurred in order to avoid tax increases.
Penny wise and pound foolish? I say yes, in DE too! I think a reprioritization is in order.
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:14 am
I think ya’ll are freaking out a little too much about the whole Indian River Inlet Bridge due to this Minnesota ordeal. DelDOT’s top engineers are still working on site and there is a engineering firm still there with a structural engineer on hand. This bridge is looked at daily and if anything is wrong, it gets fixed immediately. I know throughout Sussex County DelDOT workers are citizens just like the rest of us and they ride our roads too. If they see anything abnormal they get checked out immediately. The bridges are constantly checked by multiple departments and bridge inspectors are sent out once a year or more depending on the bridges shape. The biggest problem in replacing old bridges is the lack of Minner’s ability to manage funds and depleting the transportation fund to make her financial report card look good. Now there aren’t funds to build new bridges just to repair or bandaid. Federal money also takes awhile to get. But I would rest assure the IRIB is safe by all means.
August 7th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
As to the point of letting bridges fall down so as to not raise taxes I’m not sure I believe that is the reason . Our political leaders have never shown me that they have a problem raising taxes. I feel that here in Delaware we pay plenty of taxes. Now if enough of those revenues do not end up paying for the up keep of our bridges I would say it is because the voters have not made it clear to our leaders that that is where we want the money spent. Go to a town hall meeting or read a report of a press conference and see if you hear a question about bridges. Even if you hear questions about highways they almost always talk of widening the roads or more lights .
What you get most of the time at these gatherings are questions about how much more money will we dump down the bottomless pit of education without requiring real results ? Maybe you will get a question about how will this politition make sure that those of us who work will pay to insure that those who do not will have health care ?
Maybe if we didn’t spend money giving needles to junkies we could spend that money on a bridge. Maybe if we didn’t spend millions of dollars on study after study on things that every person in the state already knows like the fact that when you add a new developement it will increase the amount of traffic on the surrounding roads and they will need improvements, maybe we could spend that money on bridges.
It is not always the fact that we don’t collect enough taxes to solve our problems , sometimes the fact is that we collect to many taxes for the wrong reasons.
Remember that polititions seek to please those who vote so that they will be re-elected. If all they hear is education and health care that is what they will push for if they are elected.
As I have said many times it is not better polititions we need it is better voters and if we could get better voters then we would get better leaders.