MINNEAPOLIS, July 31, 2008
America's Bridges Still Falling Down
Year After Deadly Minneapolis Collapse, AP Review Shows Far Too Little Being Done To Mend Overpasses
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In this March 17, 2008 file photo, a crack in a concrete support pillar to Interstate 95 is shown in Philadelphia. Repairs to the crack will require closure of both northbound and southbound lanes of the highway north of the city, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Gene Blaum said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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The Minneapolis skyline rises in the distance, July 22, 2008 in this view of the new Interstate 35W bridge which replaces the old bridge which collapsed into the Mississippi River, Aug. 1,2007, killing 13 people and injuring more than 100. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
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Play CBS Video Video Toll Of Bridge Collapse The Minnesota state senate has voted to cap the compensation to bridge collapse victims at no more than $400 thousand each. Seth Doane reports.
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Video Flaw Cited In Minn. Bridge A National Transportation Safety Board review into the Minneapolis bridge collapse found a critical design flaw, calling into question of similar bridges across the country. Ben Tracy reports.
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Video 911 Calls From Bridge Collapse The 911 calls that came in the day the I-35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis paint a first grim picture of what happened. Tony Guida reports.
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Photo Essay Road To Recovery New span of collapsed I-35W bridge reopens
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Timeline Bridge Collapses Too Common The Minneapolis bridge collapse is only the latest such calamity.
An Associated Press review of repairs on each state's 20 most-traveled bridges with structural deficiencies found just 12 percent have been fixed. In most states, the most common approach was to plan for repairs later rather than fix problems now.
The bridges reviewed by the AP - 1,020 in all - are not in imminent danger of collapse, state engineers and highway officials say. But the officials acknowledge the structures need improvement, many sooner rather than later.
The collapse of the eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge into the Mississippi River on Aug. 1, 2007, killed 13 people and brought immediate calls for repairs to bridges across the nation.
The failure to follow through was not because of lack of effort, officials said. Soaring construction costs, budget shortages, election-year politics, a backlog of bridge projects, competing highway repairs and bureaucracy often held bridge work to only incremental progress.
The AP gathered information on repair status from 48 states and Washington, D.C. In six states, data could not be obtained for some locally owned bridges. Louisiana and Nevada failed to respond.
The AP findings:
The worst were Indiana, Oklahoma, New Hampshire and South Carolina, where work was conducted on only one of each state's 20 most heavily traveled structurally deficient bridges.
"At some point, relying on miracles is not going to be the best way to manage our system," said Pete Rahn, the transportation commissioner of Missouri. "I would pray we don't have to have another disaster to bring about the right attention to this. I see very little political will there."
Adds Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell: "The Minneapolis incident obviously caused people to stand up and take notice, but I think it got dwarfed by the bad economic news."
"There's plenty of blame to go around," said Rendell, who has joined a national campaign to demand more federal investment in infrastructure. He argues the federal government bears a larger share than states, which are struggling to make do with limited help.
Rahn, one of many state transportation officials interviewed who said it is long past time for Congress and the states to invest in bridges and roads, blames the federal government most of all.
But as Congress debates highway spending, some members criticize states for not devoting enough highway money to bridges. Also, the Bush administration has promised to veto the latest $1 billion proposed increase, itself a fraction of the estimated $140 billion needed for repairs on bridges alone.
"Thirteen people were killed and not much happened," said engineer William Schutt, a critic of the status quo of bridge assessment and repair. "Who's to blame? Congress, the American people - for putting up with it."
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Bridges deemed structurally deficient have elements that need monitoring and parts that need to be scheduled for repair or replacement. The designation does not necessarily mean a bridge is unsafe, although it is one of the factors used to determine when a bridge is at risk, and which ones quality for federal money.The federal government has basically ignored infrastructure at every level.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell"Structural deficiency ultimately determines whether a bridge will stand or fall," said Kris Kolluri, New Jersey's transportation commissioner. But recognizing the problem is only the first step.
"If you look at the full picture of bridges and the task that transportation professionals have," Kolluri said, "it's an overwhelming task."
The Minneapolis bridge, one of the busiest in Minnesota, collapsed during a Wednesday evening rush hour into a tangle of steel and concrete and crushed cars. In addition to the 13 killed, 145 people were injured. A school bus with 52 children aboard that came to rest on an angled piece of pavement provided one of the enduring images of the tragedy.
Investigators have yet to issue their final determination on the cause of the Minneapolis collapse but have said an error in the original design was the critical factor. Certain gussets - steel plates that fastened the trusses together - were roughly half the 1-inch thickness they should have been, investigators said. A National Transportation Safety Board lab report made public Tuesday noted at least two gussets broke partially along lines of corrosion.
The disaster has generated a rush of emergency bridge inspections, an extra $1 billion from Congress for bridge repairs so far and vows from leaders to tackle the problems spotlighted by the tragedy.
Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire called the I-35W collapse a "wake-up call to this nation." She vowed to tackle two of her state's overdue bridge projects, telling state lawmakers: "We need to take them down, not leave it to Mother Nature!" The Alaskan Way Viaduct along Seattle's waterfront is to be demolished by 2012, and work to replace the SR 520 floating bridge over Lake Washington should begin the same year.
In all, 17 states proposed ambitious bridge and road spending totaling $13.7 billion. To date, $8.3 billion has won approval in six states, including $160 million in Maine, $600 million in Missouri and $6.6 billion in Minnesota.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- Posted by closethippy1 at 03:07 PM : Jul 31, 2008
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i really doubt that you care about bridges or leeves or forelclosed houses...
how come you consider yourself a closet hippy? - Reply to this comment
- What kind of pathetic excuse for journalism is this?
This Story deliberately misleads viewers into believing that the I-35W bridge collapse was the result of poor maintenance.
Nonsense! This bridge collapse was caused by a critical flaw in the original design. The National Transportation Safety Board stated unequivocally that undersized gusset plates were the cause.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/transportation/jan-june08/bridge_01-15.html
Obviously CBS news feels that urban myths and hysterical conspiracy theories about spending priorities make more entertaining television than mundane engineering details.
Doug - Reply to this comment
- Is anyone in government doing their freaking jobs???
Congress allowing Jr. to go to war for bogus reasons, Katrina victims being blamed for suffering a flood, the mortgage crisis eating up the country because no one bother to put a stop to the party, the entire infraestructure falling down to pieces because no one is minding them or, if they do, they find themselves trying to pull money from out of their @sses!!
How can we keep electing to power people who ABSOLUTELY HATE government so much they don''''t care if the country goes to hell instead of choosing people who understand what the problem is and try to make it better instead of getting rid of it? - Reply to this comment
- the answer is they are too busy fighting wars ,giving to 3 world nations. Michael Seattle has lots of homeless. Some are tjere cos every thing is sky high. Ye may work in a shelter,they don''t take the handicapped and I know that. I was homeless. Rents,food,etc. they costly. Yes,there are druggies,gang,drunks,mental ill.poor. A shelter sets their rules. I am a white cane user. The homeless beg. It is sad. Yes the bridges,roads are falling apart. I have been on them. Charty begins here at home, That means here in America. Take care of us first. We the American People,by the American people,for the American first. It is awful.
- Reply to this comment
- omega39, hear that loud noise? That''''s the aggregated sound of America laughing at YOU thinking that homeless people make better news sources than educated pros on TV. You need to get out more. Go talk to 3 homeless people today. I have worked in homeless shelters. 90% of them are alcoholics, drug addicts, mentally disturbed, or even all 3. Most have criminal records. You sir, are a fool.
Posted by michaelt302
What you hear laughing Michael is Bush''s remaining support. The millions that have lost their homes and the millions more that have seen their jobs shipped overseas find it difficult to join the "laughter". Why don''t you go work in a food pantry and see what is really going on in America? - Reply to this comment
- I work for one of the big four freight rails as a conductor here in Philadelphia and there is a rail bridge that goes from Philadelphia to Camden NJ over the Delaware river that we use every day hauling the deadliest chemicals known to man kind, thing is that the bridge has been condemed for over 10 years now! The company I work for chooses to just pay the fine every time we go over rather than stop freight traffic and fix the bridge. It''s an incredibly scary feeling to cross a bridge in a freight train and feel yourself and the train swaying in the breeze. One day something will happen, even just one of our chlorine tankers derailing could wipe out most of Philadelphia. It''s a shame that we never fix anything in this country until a bunch of people die.
- Reply to this comment
- I work for one of the big four freight rails as a conductor here in Philadelphia and there is a rail bridge that goes from Philadelphia to Camden NJ over the Delaware river that we use every day hauling the deadliest chemicals known to man kind, thing is that the bridge has been condemed for over 10 years now! The company I work for chooses to just pay the fine every time we go over rather than stop freight traffic and fix the bridge. It''s an incredibly scary feeling to cross a bridge in a freight train and feel yourself and the train swaying in the breeze. One day something will happen, even just one of our chlorine tankers derailing could wipe out most of Philadelphia. CONDEMED!
- Reply to this comment
- I work for one of the big four freight rails as a conductor here in Philadelphia and there is a rail bridge that goes from Philadelphia to Camden NJ over the Delaware river that we use every day hauling the deadliest chemicals known to man kind, thing is that the bridge has been condemed for over 10 years now! The company I work for chooses to just pay the fine every time we go over rather than stop freight traffic and fix the bridge. It''s an incredibly scary feeling to cross a bridge in a freight train and feel yourself and the train swaying in the breeze. One day something will happen, even just one of our chlorine tankers derailing could wipe out most of Philadelphia. CONDEMED!
- Reply to this comment
- I work for one of the big four freight rails as a conductor here in Philadelphia and there is a rail bridge that goes from Philadelphia to Camden NJ over the Delaware river that we use every day hauling the deadliest chemicals known to man kind, thing is that the bridge has been condemed for over 10 years now! The company I work for chooses to just pay the fine every time we go over rather than stop freight traffic and fix the bridge. It''s an incredibly scary feeling to cross a bridge in a freight train and feel yourself and the train swaying in the breeze. One day something will happen, even just one of our chlorine tankers derailing could wipe out most of Philadelphia. CONDEMED!
- Reply to this comment
- I work for one of the big four freight rails as a conductor here in Philadelphia and there is a rail bridge that goes from Philadelphia to Camden NJ over the Delaware river that we use every day hauling the deadliest chemicals known to man kind, thing is that the bridge has been condemed for over 10 years now! The company I work for chooses to just pay the fine every time we go over rather than stop freight traffic and fix the bridge. It''s an incredibly scary feeling to cross a bridge in a freight train and feel yourself and the train swaying in the breeze. One day something will happen, even just one of our chlorine tankers derailing could wipe out most of Philadelphia. CONDEMED!
- Reply to this comment
Pesident Obama's
