Bridge Safety Inspections

The U.S. Transportation Secretary is urging all states to immediately inspect bridges similar to the Minneapolis bridge. ODOT engineers say Oklahoma's bridges rate at or below the national average.

Thursday, August 2nd 2007, 9:47 am

By: News On 6

The U.S. Transportation Secretary is urging all states to immediately inspect bridges similar to the Minneapolis bridge. ODOT engineers say Oklahoma's bridges rate at or below the national average. Several are slated for repairs that many say can't come quickly enough. Six thousand of the state's 6,700 bridges cross waterways, like the one over the Arkansas River. News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson reports engineers say bridges like those can hide the danger below.

"A deck may look great, but then like across underneath of the Arkansas River where you have chlorides or something like that attacking the bridge, you may have a beam underneath that has come out of contact with its support,â€ said deputy director Paul Zachary.

Zachary watches 256 bridges in the Tulsa city limits. He says dozens are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

"Then the next case is we'll shut them down. We'll actually close the bridge," Zachary said.

That's what happened on the Boulder Avenue bridge in downtown. It's been closed since 1998. Funding to repair the bridge is on this week's city council agenda.

"If you're asking me, 'can I stand here and guarantee to you that we wouldn't have a failure?' I cannot, and neither can any other human being that understands the nature of bridges,â€ said ODOT chief engineer John Fuller.

Engineers there said recent flooding already had them on alert.

"We made a great effort to inspect those bridges immediately as the water was receding,â€ said ODOT operations director Gary Evans.

ODOT says it will complete those inspections in the next two weeks.

Tulsa's bridges rate an 85 on a 100-point scale. Their average age is 29-years-old, the oldest built in 1925.

Engineers say they need more time and money to bridge the gap.

â€œIt's a day in, day out deal. We're literally out every day,â€ Zachary said. â€œWe have consultants that are helping us to inspect the bridges. It's a critical thing, and this deal in Minneapolis just underscores the importance of it."

Tulsa already has some money in the bank to rehab 53 bridges. Statewide, 1,600 bridges need improvement. Almost 500 will be rebuilt completely over the next eight years.

Watch the video: Oklahoma Bridge Safety Questions Raised After Minnesota Collapse

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