Blog Topic

Minnesota Bridge was Rated Structurally Deficient for 17 Years
August 03, 2007

No sooner had we recovered from the shock of the interstate highway bridge collapse in Minneapolis than we received the news that the bridge had been declared "structurally deficient" as far back as 1990. Over the years, Minnesota Department of Transportation engineers found corroded bearing and stress fractures, but deemed the bridge safe enough for traffic. It was far from safe, it seems now.

The bridge, the busiest in Minnesota collapsed during the evening rush hour with hundreds of people on board. Cars plunged into the Mississippi River, including a school bus carrying 60 children back home. The death toll stands at 4 but with more than 30 still missing, is expected to rise. Although an investigation into the collapse has been launched, it will be at least a year before we can expect any findings to come out.

The State of California's Bridges

According to Sign on San Diego, Federal Highway Administration data analysis reveals that of the 50 most heavily trafficked bridges deemed structurally deficient in the country, 38 are in the southern California region - 32 in Los Angeles, 5 in Orange County and 1 in Riverside County. In another alarming statistic, structurally deficient bridges in these 3 counties alone are used for over 27 million crossings each day!

At least half of California's deficient bridges are owned by the state and of these, 27 in the southern California region alone have increased degrees of structural flaws that we need to be concerned about. Officials however seem to be displaying a lackadaisical approach to bridge safety in California, insisting that there is no cause for alarm, and that the Minnesota bridge collapse was a rare occurrence.

In the wake of the bridge collapse, Caltrans officials have begun emergency check ups of California's deficient bridges. Riverside County's Department of Transportation director said that plans were on to replace at least 3 deficient bridges in the county.

In the nation's capital buzzing with election year activity, the usual lip service is being paid to increased safety concerns with one senator huffing pompously that a bridge "should not collapse in America!"

But it did, and lives have been lost. Victim's families in coming days are likely to ask questions. And they deserve answers.

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