Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) It’s no secret that there’s some infrastructure that could use an overhaul in and around D.C. A new study, however, is crystallizing just how much the region’s commuters rely on that infrastructure.
The Auto Insurance Center looked at a list of structurally deficient bridges, then looked at how often those bridges are used, and found D.C. leads the nation in trips on deteriorating bridges.
“We wanted to look at what the structurally deficient bridges were, and how many daily crossings these bridges saw,” Justin Loera of the Auto Insurance Center told WMAL. “There’s nine total structurally deficient bridges (in the District), and those bridges equate to 253,733 daily crossings.”
The busiest structurally deficient bridge in DC is the overpass that takes DC-295 over Suitland Parkway. In Maryland, the distinction belongs to the Beltway’s overpass over Central Ave/MD-214. Virginia’s most overworked structurally deficient bridge is in the Hampton Roads area.
D.C. also leads the nation in the percentage of overall bridges that are functionally obsolete, and fewest proposed bridge replacements among total bridges.
Structurally deficient is defined as a bridge with one or more main components, such as the substructure or superstructure, starting to deteriorate. Functionally obsolete means the bridge is no longer able to serve its intended purpose due to its design.
Maryland and Virginia aren’t entirely off the hook. They’re both in the bottom ten in the nation in the percentage of the state’s bridges built in the last ten years.
“Most of these bridges are built in the 60s,” Loera said. “A lot of these bridges, when they were built, they weren’t built for the high-capacity traffic they’re currently taking. They were built to standards in the 60s and 70s.”
To read the entire report, click on this link: http://www.autoinsurancecenter.com/the-dangerous-state-of-american-bridges.htm
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