USA TODAY
More than one in nine bridges in the USA — at least 66,405, or 11% of
the total — are structurally deficient, according to a new report.
These are not rarely used, out-of-the way structures: Each day,
Americans take 260 million trips over structurally deficient bridges,
says the report from Transportation for America, a Washington,
D.C.-based coalition that works to improve transportation.
The report comes less than a month after the May 23 collapse of a span
of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River in Washington state.
Part of the bridge collapsed when it was struck by a truck with an
oversize load. That bridge, built in 1955, was not structurally
deficient.
The structurally deficient bridges are 65 years
old on average, and the Federal Highway Administration estimates that
repairing them would cost $76 billion.
A structurally deficient
bridge isn't necessarily one that's dangerous or about to collapse;
rather, they are bridges that require significant maintenance,
rehabilitation or replacement.....................
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