Nancy Young wrote:
> "maxine in ri" <weedfam@gmail.com> wrote
>
>> The real "joy" I've heard is that RI has the highest percentage of
>> problem bridges
>> of any state in the country. What fun. NOT.
>
> Around here they are replacing and repairing bridges continually.
> Lots of bridge work. But when you see those crazy numbers,
> you have to remember that a lot of bridges are spans we don't even
> think of, hardly realize we're on one ... little spans over little creeks,
> not even a bump in the road.
>
> Just saying that the news, as usual, is tossing around statistics to
> make everyone think the sky is falling, it's an issue but I've been
> reading about it seems forever, it's hardly been a big secret that
> bridge maintenance is not up to snuff. That's probably true anywhere
> in the world.
>
> I think the design of this particular bridge played a big role. 40 years
> is not old for a bridge. Fixing any bridges like it should be the first
> thing.
>
> nancy
>
>

We are paying for the "Walmart thinking" that was used to construct the
Interstate highway system. They had allocated sufficient funds to build
say 1,000 miles of road but chose to build 1,200 to make it seem even
more spectacular. So that means everything had to be stretched. If a
normal bridge deck used say 2 feet of concrete they used 18 inches.

It is interesting to note how many bridges that predate all of this are
still standing and in great condition.

The main artery through my area is an Interstate highway. There are
pretty much weekly "emergency bridge repairs" to try to put another
bandaid on the poorly built bridges. There is a large bridge system
crossing a local gorge. The northbound lanes use a bridge that was built
for an old highway that predates the interstate system by at least 30
years. The most they have had to do is paint it. The southbound lanes
use a cheepo interstate highway class bridge. They have replaced the
deck on the bridge at least twice and had 2 lanes closed last month to
do emergency repairs.