How Safe Are YOUR State’s Bridges?

MSNBC now has an interactive map of the United States which allows you to see a more detailed, graphical view of the data I presented yesterday concerning structurally deficient bridges. The map also includes data on functionally obsolete bridges and has a feature which allows you to click on your state and see a county-by-county list of deficient and obsolete bridges nationwide.

Click on the map to open the interactive graphic on MSNBC.com.

One point to keep in mind about the list is that structurally deficient bridges are those in need of repairs and/or weight restrictions, while functionally obsolete means that a bridges physical properties don’t meet the standards for today’s traffic (i.e. lanes too narrow, not built to withstand today’s traffic volume, etc.). The bridges are also rated on a 0 to 100 scale, with 50 percent being the threshold at which a bridge most likely needs to be replaced. The Minneapolis bridge that collapsed August 1 was rated at exactly that 50 percent mark.

This entry was posted on August 4, 2007 at 12:06 am and is filed under Current Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.