Fallin Inspects Bridge, Vows Funding Effort

Thursday, August 16th 2007, 7:21 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ With cars and trucks rumbling noisily overhead, U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin stood underneath the Interstate 40 Crosstown Bridge near downtown Oklahoma City on Thursday and said she was pleased with the state's bridge inspection efforts.

``I'm very pleased with what I've heard'' about efforts of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to inspect and replace dangerous bridges, she said.

A member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the first-term House member from the 5th Congressional District said she would be taking part in hearings in September on developing a strategy to replace structurally deficient and obsolete bridges across the country.

Oklahoma has 6,299 structurally deficient bridges, according to a federal survey, the most of any state. But state officials say beefed up state funding is allowing ODOT to make strides in replacing the faulty structures.

The Crosstown Bridge is on the list of structurally deficient bridges and is in the process of being replaced as part of the largest bridge or road construction program in state history.

As Fallin was holding her news conference with state Highway Director Gary Ridley, ODOT officials were inspecting a nearby hole in the structure, which Ridley said would be quickly repaired.

Ridley and other officials have said that no state bridges are in danger of immediate collapse, a concern raised after the recent deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

``The public needs to know that we will not compromise their safety,'' Fallin said.

Originally built in 1965, the Crosstown Expressway carries 120,000 vehicles a day, almost 50,000 more than the intended capacity of 72,000.

The new bridge, expected to be open to traffic in 2012, will carry up to 173,000 vehicles a day.

Oklahoma has 11 bridges of a deck truss design similar to the Minneapolis bridge. The Crosstown is not one of them.