Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Rural bridges and repair budgets are insufficient

A recent report from Transportation for America reveals that over 11 percent of America's bridges are "structurally deficient" and almost two-thirds of those bridges are found in rural America, the Daily Yonder reports. Yonder map of "structurally deficit" bridges:

Federal inspectors evaluated the bridges' superstructure or "bridgey" part, the deck, where the vehicles travel, and the substructure, where the bridge connects to the ground, the Yonder reports. If any of these parts needed significant repair, the bridge is deemed deficient. "The Federal Highway Administration estimates it would take $70.9 billion to bring all the bridges up to standard" and federal spending for bridge repair is only about $5 billion a year.

"Nuckolls County, Nebraska, along the Kansas border, has the highest percentage of bridges needing repair in rural America, with 120 of its 194 bridges, 61.9 percent, deemed "structurally deficient," the Yonder reports. (Wikipedia map) Greer County, in far southwestern Oklahoma, has the most bridges in need of repair, at 260. Florida has the smallest percentage of "structurally deficient" bridges at 2.3 percent and Delaware, Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Utah all have less than 5 percent. (Read more)

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