Is your commute insufficiently terrifying? Good news.

February 23, 2017 8:21 AM

The Washington Post brings us a tool to check which of your local bridges might be "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete".

Bridges are rated by a sufficiency rating that is an overall measure based on inspector ratings of many aspects of the bridge’s top deck and underlying structure. According to the National Bridge Inventory, the worst bridges, generally with a score below 50 percent, are classified as “structurally deficient” due to at least one defect that requires attention. Bridges that are “functionally obsolete” cannot handle the required traffic needs. A low score does not mean that a bridge will fall, but it indicates that it needs repair. Bridges with posted load limits are in greatest need of repair.

posted by Etrigan (49 comments total)

When we lived in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, we would visit Montreal at least every month. I always hated hated HATED crossing the existing Pont Champlain (here's why!) and when we would get stuck in a traffic jam on the bridge, it elevated my anxiety. Bridge collapses are fears I didn't even know I had until I moved to Canada.
posted by Kitteh at 8:35 AM on February 23, 2017 [3 favorites]

Haha, bridges. Oh, man. Growing up, and currently living, in a city where 4 major bodies of water converge (James River, Lafayette River, Elizabeth River, the Chesapeake Bay), in addition to all the things that come with having a border be where the bay and ocean meet, yeah. It gives me some strong feelings about bridges. With all the creeks, inlets, bays, etc we have, we're literally almost half water - 43% as compared to the national (and VA) average of 7%.

So, yeah. I have feelings about bridges. and also tunnels, but they don't seem to be included here (which is reasonable). I wish I could search by individual bridge, we have a really important one here and I want to know how it's included.
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:45 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Looking at this caused me to check out the WaPo home page, which in turn led me to their new slogan. Wow.
posted by The Bellman at 8:45 AM on February 23, 2017 [4 favorites]

I live in Alabama, where our roads and bridges are maintained by a guy who knows a guy who played football with a guy who married a girl who runs that department in the Gump. So the answer to "which bridges?" is "ALL of them". :/
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:51 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Hello my city has three rivers (and infinite deep ravines) and 18.3% of bridges are structurally deficient.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:53 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

A low score does not mean that a bridge will fall, but it indicates that it needs repair. Bridges with posted load limits are in greatest need of repair.

So is this an effort to promote increased funding for infrastructure investments, a tool to help commercial heavy vehicles (which includes not only semi trucks, but also school buses and large RVs), or just fear-mongering? The article just says "here's this information, and Trump wants to spend money on bridges."

Axios says that the infrastructure spending plan is likely to be pushed off until next year, what with a Supreme Court nomination, plus Obamacare repeal legislation; tax reform; and budget, spending and debt-ceiling fights, including a possible showdown over a government shutdown (Feb. 23, 2017), based on "Republican sources." And the latest information I see on his plan is still give businesses extended tax incentive credits, meaning they build something now, and pay reduced taxes for a decade or more. And there's no mention of how projects are selected, so there's still a good chance these more rural or remote bridges are ignored, despite the urgent need to fix them, as they may serve as the only access for a community, or they're a school bus route, or serve other critical needs for some population.

Here's the deal with county bridges: most counties don't have enough money to maintain all their infrastructure, so those bridges are just one of many things they need to keep up. State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have bridge funding, in part from Federal funds, but DOTs focus on their own infrastructure first, because they pretty much have to, or the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) gets angry and gets more involved with how and where they spend their (federal) funds.

So those poor, rural counties that are losing populations have to maintain roads, schools and other government buildings (unless they rent space), water and wastewater, pay staff and their retirements, and so much more. Bridges are just one of the many things that are underfunded at the local level.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:54 AM on February 23, 2017 [3 favorites]

Information is a bit out of date, FYI... The bridge listed as insufficient in my town was actually replaced last year (and you should have seen that thing, hoo boy).
posted by selfnoise at 8:54 AM on February 23, 2017

"Get off on Crenshaw [County, Alabama; 64.3% deficient], tell my homies Look Alive"

Connecticut would have scored worse before the 1983 collapse of I-95 over the Mianus River triggered a large statewide rehabilitation program. Deferred maintenance and lax inspection procedures had contributed to the poor state of bridges on I-95 and other routes. Now the whole state is better than the national average.
posted by kurumi at 8:58 AM on February 23, 2017

Previously
posted by zinon at 9:03 AM on February 23, 2017

FirstMateKate: Looks like we're city-mates. I think one of our four deficient bridges is the Lesner Bridge, which is being replaced. Two are on I-264 and I can't seem to find the fourth.
posted by DanSachs at 9:10 AM on February 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

Washington state seems to be pretty good overall. Might be over sensitive because of the whole Gallopin' Gertie thing.
posted by Artw at 9:10 AM on February 23, 2017

I'm curious about the massively undersized-capacity-for-actual-traffic bridge that is on my commute - it sits between St Marys and Calvert counties in MD and isn't apparently listed under either on the webpage.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 9:23 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oh, man, that bit of Northern Parkway where it crosses over I-83. I actually called the state highway administration about it. Apparently it's within acceptable safety parameters, but you should see how it bounces up and down with every vehicle that drives across.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:32 AM on February 23, 2017

@artw I'm sure the replacement of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River helped WA's score :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-5_Skagit_River_Bridge_collapse
posted by seiryuu at 9:33 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Technically that one was down to a tall truck taking out the upper portion of the bridge rather than maintenance, though you could argue that design is obsolete.
posted by Artw at 9:37 AM on February 23, 2017

Geez, look at Iowa.

Might want to avoid the Bridges of Madison County, after all.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:44 AM on February 23, 2017

There are 1,274 classified bridges of 1,274 total in this county. Of the classified bridges:

* 233 are structurally deficient
* 342 are functionally obsolete
* 699 are good

That's actually better than I expected for Allegheny County.

Check out the repair job on this bridge (rated at 2.0%) over the railroad tracks near my house. They built a wooden porch deck over the sidewalk because there were holes through the concrete straight down to the tracks big enough to lose a child or small dog.

posted by octothorpe at 9:48 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

Well, I'm in Pittsburgh, where we scoff at your minimum requirements for structural integrity. Scoff! Scoff!
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:53 AM on February 23, 2017 [5 favorites]

Ah yes, the old Pittsburgh Build a Bridge Over/Under the Bridge Because the Actual Bridge Is Swiss Cheese approach.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:55 AM on February 23, 2017 [4 favorites]

And don't forget the 'put a hair net on the old bridge to catch the occasional chunk of falling concrete' gambit...
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:59 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

anyway the city is blowing up the old kosciuszko bridge soon which will i predict will be very satisfying for anyone who has ever had to take the bqe
posted by poffin boffin at 10:01 AM on February 23, 2017 [6 favorites]

Two regrets: (1) That Tadeusz Kościuszko, who personally participated in so many world-changing events (not one national revolt, but several!) (an engineer too!), had such an ugly bridge named after him, and (2) that the bridge can't be exploded, burned and melted all at the same time.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:08 AM on February 23, 2017 [3 favorites]

Now I am wondering if Seattles viaduct is a bridge, because that thing is a nightmare.
posted by Artw at 10:09 AM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

As usual with such things around here, the city, county, state, federal governments and the Norfolk Southern Railway have been arguing for decades over who owns the bridge near me and who should pay to repair it. The deeds and right-of-ways go back two hundred years and I'm pretty sure that a tractor-trailer will fall through it long before they get that all figured out.
posted by octothorpe at 10:12 AM on February 23, 2017

Minneapolis is in rockin' shape, but the backstory for that is unpleasant.

Also: damn, Dakotas and Iowa. Damn.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 10:13 AM on February 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

Wow, I guess being such a relatively young state is good for AZ, almost all our Metro bridges are in good shape, just need more to handle the traffic. Give us another hundred years, I'm sure we'll catch up in terms of infrastructure neglect.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 10:19 AM on February 23, 2017

Sing Or Swim: "And don't forget the 'put a hair net on the old bridge to catch the occasional chunk of falling concrete' gambit..."

Don't forget the trick of "Holy shit we have to evacuate the neighborhood below the bridge and demolish it immediately after ignoring it for decades.
posted by octothorpe at 10:26 AM on February 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

>Holy shit we have to evacuate the neighborhood below the bridge and demolish it immediately

Wow--I somehow missed that entirely, or heard about it without really taking in the details because you know, another bridge failure, must be Tuesday. I didn't realize folks in proximity had been told, 'so, listen, if you could go ahead and live somewhere else for a while, that would be great...'

According to the list, there's at least one overpass over railroad tracks that I drive on once a week that has a 2% sufficiency rating. Its map-dot is bright red so I assume that means 2% is my chance of survival, rather than the chance that something will go wrong. I think maybe I'll stop going places.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:38 AM on February 23, 2017

This survey doesn't include otherwise sound bridges that may be susceptible to sudden loss of integrity due to environmental factors, like this bridge that's now cut off California's Highway 1 / Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur for probably a year or more.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:40 AM on February 23, 2017

Huh. My county (Sonoma, California) has an absurd amount lanes of asphalt per resident, but we're listed as only 11% deficient. Further, if you zoom in on the database it's clear that it's a year or two out of date: There are two freeway overpasses near me listed as "functionally obsolete", within the past two or three years one was removed and replaced with fill and the other was completely replaced.

I think the larger issue in this that scares me is that the reason we've got the maintenance deficit we've built all of this infrastructure that isn't paying for itself. "Shovel ready" is code for "nobody thought it was worth paying for", and if we go on a massive spending spree to shore up all of this "investment" that apparently isn't paying back, what we're really doing is spending money to incur more liability.

Seems like any major investment spending spree needs to be matched with a massive rework of how we collect dollars for infrastructure so we can tell whether or not it's actually working for us. Especially now that the technology has caught up, we need more direct fees for infrastructure use so it's clear what is and isn't bringing us benefit. Because this "subsidize everything from income tax (and a little bit of property tax), and charge a pittance for gas taxes" is causing us to make really bad infrastructure decisions.
posted by straw at 10:58 AM on February 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

Something about having a major multi-lane highway bridge in the middle of town collapse on my anniversary, just post rush hour, has left me with a bit of concern over the state of bridges in Minnesota. The Twin Cities are right on the confluence of several large rivers. There are many bridges. They get a lot of traffic. It would be nice if no more of them fell the fuck down when people are driving over them.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:06 AM on February 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

Hmm... I just walked across a 9.8% sufficiency rating bridge at lunchtime.
It's always a little unnerving waiting at the light there because it bounces quite a bit when traffic goes by.

(1) That Tadeusz Kościuszko, ..., had such an ugly bridge named after him...
You're obviously not talking about the 'Dolly Parton' Kościuszko bridge. (which seems to be sound)
posted by MtDewd at 11:43 AM on February 23, 2017

When the US11 bridge linking New Orleans to Slidell was built in 1938, at 5.1 miles it was the longest bridge in the world over an open body of water. I crossed that bridge at least once a week as a child to visit my grandparents. It is at 9% and is heavily used by commuters as an alternative to the I-10 bridge which crosses the same channel at a slight angle.

US11 remained the longest bridge in the world when it was surpassed by -- drum roll please -- the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which links New Orleans' suburb of Metairie with Mandeville and at 24 miles remains to this day the longest bridge in the world over an open body of water. (There are a couple of would-be contenders, but they skirt marshland over part of their span. From the middle of the Causeway you cannot see land.)

I live in Mandeville and commute across the Causeway. The original span (now southbound) built in 1956 is at 59%. It badly needs to be leveled and there is some worry about the integrity of the prestressing reinforcement. The newer northbound span built in 1969 is still in pretty good shape.
posted by Bringer Tom at 11:45 AM on February 23, 2017

For some reason the many bridges that cross the Milwaukee river aren't listed on here. I mean, a length of road that crosses a body of water is considered a bridge, right? It's confusing, and a little disconcerting since I cross one of them fairly regularly.
posted by Fister Roboto at 12:04 PM on February 23, 2017

Loving the bridge not too far from my house that is at a 0.0 sufficiency rating. Can't wait to drive over that bridge again.
posted by anactualwolfe at 12:43 PM on February 23, 2017

I really want to go jump up and down on some 2% sufficiency ones around me.
posted by DaddyNewt at 12:54 PM on February 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

So then let's get to work immediately building that fucking wall.
posted by 4ster at 3:34 PM on February 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

FirstMateKate: Looks like we're city-mates. I think one of our four deficient bridges is the Lesner Bridge, which is being replaced. Two are on I-264 and I can't seem to find the fourth.

Well, there's that weird "flyover" bridge where Tidewater Dr. ends in Ocean View that, last I heard a few months ago, was closed to traffic due to structural deficiency. Strange that the 2015 data rates it at 70.3%.
posted by indubitable at 4:06 PM on February 23, 2017

4ster: "So then let's get to work immediately building that fucking wall."

That's the thing, isn't it? It's not like bridge building is some lost ancient art. We've chosen to spend all our money on weapons and other useless shit like the wall and not on anything actually useful.
posted by octothorpe at 4:14 PM on February 23, 2017 [3 favorites]

In regard to the Twin Cities, as obnoxious as it has been to put up with the construction these past couple years (2016 was ridiculous), I completely understand why it's necessary.

That being said, the 35E construction wrapped up in November, and I've noticed easily a 10- to 15-minute improvement in my commute time during rush hour. Nice work, MNDOT.
posted by Autumnheart at 5:20 PM on February 23, 2017

There's a bridge over the river on Chicago Avenue that I cross on my bike to get to work. The tool shows it at 4%. Which isn't telling me anything I didn't already know. Last February it was closed to vehicle traffic for 3 days for "unscheduled emergency repair".
posted by notoriety public at 6:13 PM on February 23, 2017

Dang, there are more bridges in my area than I thought. I ride my bike over this twice a day for work and recreation, and the gaps in the railings, patched up with hurricane fencing doesn't exactly inspire confidence. 52.2% sufficiency rating. Whee!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:45 PM on February 23, 2017

"Functionally obsolete" is a scary-sounding term. But sometimes you want "functionally obsolete" highways - roads that aren't 200 feet wide, interchanges that don't sprawl for hundreds of acres, roads with trees and near buildings.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 7:27 PM on February 23, 2017

Yes dear god they've been working on the Lesner bridge forever and it seems like they are never going to finish.

I had a mefite memail because of this post, they did investigative reporting about bridges in my area and apparently the Jordan bridge was one of the ones that was on the verge of giving up. Luckily they've replaced it recently. The new Jordan bridge is actually one of my favorite bridges! It's very tall and a bit curved and rather fun to drive. Though the old Jordan was beautiful in it's own right. It was a vertical-lift drawbridge, finished in the late 1920s. Now that we have the technology to make really tall things it just doesn't make sense to keep bridges like that around anymore.

We still have a couple of draw bridges in the area, though! The Berkley bridge, also originally built in the 20s, but has since been overhauled countless times. The High Rise brdige, idk much about it. The Gilmerton used to be a draw bridge but is now vertical lift. Uhm. there are more I just don't remember. I'm not kidding you guys we have so many bridges around here I'm going to start calling us Madison County.

I am stuck in a rabbit hole of local bridges did you know how many different ways we have to get bridges the fuck out of the way?!
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:59 PM on February 23, 2017

sorry to double post! But DanSachs and Indubitable, I've been trying to figure out forever if this is a false memory or not, but I remember driving over a steel-beam bridge (trying to get to Portsmouth when I was like 15 but I cannot guarantee that I was in Portsmouth because we were very lost) and I could have sworn there was a booth (toll booth?) where we asked a woman for directions. I've never been able to find anything like it, except just now the Centerville Tpk bridge, but it doesn't quite fit how I remember.
posted by FirstMateKate at 9:04 PM on February 23, 2017

Not so bad, actually. The failing bridges are all over creeks or the expressway. The big highway bridges over the Illinois River that are up to a mile long over water and that I worry about failing Minnesota style are all fixed ... with ARRA funds. (Thanks, Obama!)

I would prefer not to have a bridge collapse into a creek and all but I feel like my car isn't heavy enough to collapse it and also I wouldn't drown since they're small creeks. The river, being a mile wide and 18 feet deep, is a different story.

And yeah, the worst two bridges in my county per the map have been repaired between 2015 and now, AT ENORMOUS INCONVENIENCE*, people need to drive on those! But at least we're prioritizing the worst bridges.

*(I mean, crucial infrastructure maintenance means I have to take a DETOUR on Mini McGee's twice-weekly trips to the Planetarium that adds like five minutes to my driving, NO ONE KNOWS HOW I SUFFER.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:34 AM on February 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

FirstMateKate: Sorry, have only been in the area for five years so can't supply the missing memory.
posted by DanSachs at 2:48 AM on February 24, 2017

Came to this thread expecting Tales of Pittsburgh Bridge Fuckery, was not disappointed. Thanks, fellow yinzer MeFites!
posted by Stacey at 3:26 AM on February 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

In Tulsa it was pretty much a weekly occurrence that one bridge or another would be losing chunks of concrete onto the roadway below or tire-swallowing holes would open up. They did finally replace the oldest bridges over the Arkansas River and the one downtown over the railroad tracks that was so bad it was closed for almost a decade before they finally rebuilt it, so the literal worst of the worst in terms of "chance of causing a mass casualty incident" were all replaced. The state also kindly repaired all of the 40ish bridges, and replaced a few, along or over the loop of highways surrounding downtown a few years back.

Last I saw there were still a fair number of structurally deficient and functionally obsolete 1950s era bridges on I-44 through town. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the incessant heavy truck traffic pounding them to rubble, but as far as the State of Oklahoma is concerned, legal truck weights should only increase.
posted by wierdo at 11:11 AM on February 24, 2017