Kimmer, “structurally deficient” is a broad term that one would need to ask…. As compared to what?
A bridge built today? Sure it doesn’t meet today’s standards but it will still carry a load. Metallurgy has changed over the year as has structural designs. By the time they replace every bridge in America the inspection would find those new bridges “structurally deficient” as compared to the state of the art designs of the day.
It’s a slippery slope. On the one hand you depend on Civil or Structural engineers to inspect your bridges, then for the most part those inspectors were in diapers when the bridges were built and were educated to build differently. They may work for companies that would love a new bridge contract.
This is a larger problem than one would imagine. Wear and tear is obvious where stress is harder to measure without x-ray. Imagine x-raying the whole bridge, even just the probable stress points? Then imagine shutting the bridge down because you found something. Could you imagine the cost and outcry?
The advantage of letting it go until an accident occurs is that when it happens “emergency funding” kicks in and the State is off the hook. I know it sound crude but if a State is cutting budgets on inspections @ 250 thousand dollars, what do you think a 250 million dollar bridge would do to a State budget?
The highway system belongs to the federal government, built under the justification in the 50’s 60’s of needing to transport military hardware in times of war, but the structures themselves belong to the States and they are responsible for the maintenance. Monies returned through highway funds are used for this task as well as auto fees and taxes. But the highway funds often come with unfunded mandates that increase the cost of poker where the funds fall far short of the need. The system is strangled in red tape and everything clinging to the system gets paid but the bridges and infrastructure itself.
This business is very corrupt and has been for many years. There was a study a few years back that claimed that half the monies collected for roads and bridges actually made it to the roads and bridges.
It is very unlikely that these type bridges will start to fall down unless work crews create the same conditions. Moving all the traffic to one side and adding enormous weight with a pavement layer, on an old bridge, is most likely not going to happen again.
