| In light of the terrible events with the Minneapolis bridge collapse, now might be a good time to point out a couple things regarding the status of Texas bridges. In Minnesota, the bridge that collapsed was rated "structurally deficient" by the US Department of Transportation. In Texas, 193 bridges are rated as "structurally deficient", according to a 2006 audit by the inspector general of the US Department of Transportation.
Among problems with Texas bridges listed in the audit were complaints that maximum weight limits were not posted, bridge ratings were improved without supporting data, bridges were not inspected frequently enough, and load rating calculations were not clear. From the report (which you can read in full here):
Texas provides an example of the limitations of FHWA's compliance reviews. Texas has 48,492 bridges on the 2003 Bridge Inventory, by far the largest number of all states, but has only one FHWA bridge engineer and one assistant engineer.
Texas has a slightly larger percentage of "structurally deficient" bridges that Minnesota: 4% to Minnesota's 3%. This isn't the full extent of information on bridges in Texas, and it's not to say that efforts aren't being made to allay the concerns. Now just seems like a good time to take a look at Texas and ask some questions about the condition of our own bridges.
UPDATE: Reading the report, it looks like the 193 bridges listed as structurally deficient here are National Highway System bridges, which would explain the discrepancy in the percentages listed above. I would assume all the other bridges in Texas are maintained by state and local (as opposed to federal) officials. Anyone have any insight here? |
