Sometimes, it takes tragedy to spur change.
The collapse of the Interstate 35W Bridge in Minneapolis earlier this month that killed at least nine people has raised concerns about the safety of bridges across the country.
In New York, Gov. Eliot Spitzer ordered the Department of Transportation (DOT), Thruway Authority, Bridge Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to undertake a “thorough examination” of the state”™s 49 bridges with similar designs to the I-35 deck truss bridge that collapsed in Minnesota, and also to review the state’s inspection standards and procedures.
The governor also asked state agencies to inspect any bridge that has not been inspected in the last few months.
“Even before the Minnesota disaster, which caused us to take additional precautionary steps, the state had set and adhered to the highest standards for bridge security ”“ standards that surpass stringent federal requirements,” the governor said in a statement. “State standards mandate meticulous inspections, maintenance and improvements.”
By March 31, 2008, the DOT will provide the governor and the Legislature with a new five-year capital plan for highways and bridges that will reflect the need for additional funding, according to Spitzer”™s office.
Marsha Gordon, co-chair of the Westchester-Rockland Tappan Zee Futures Task Force, said she is “very pleased” at the attention being paid to the safety of the state”™s bridges.
Gordon is also the president of The Business Council of Westchester, which favors a new Tappan Zee bridge being built with a mass transit component.
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Sooner, not later
But regardless of what option chosen, Gordon hopes a final decision is made on the future of the Tappan Zee Bridge and is made sooner rather than later.
“We think this puts a little more urgency to make a decision expeditiously,” she said.
Farther north, the five other main bridges in the Hudson Valley are inspected rigorously, said John Bellucci, director of planning and public relations for the New York State Bridge Authority.
The Bridge Authority operates the Bear Mountain, Newburgh-Beacon, Mid-Hudson, Kingston-Rhinecliff and Rip Van Winkle bridges in the Hudson Valley.
Each bridge receives a full inspection every two years under federal and state guidelines and the Bridge Authority goes a step further by having that inspection report updated every year, said Bellucci.
All five of the bridges were inspected in the last 60 days and were rated a “5” on the state bridge rating system, said Bellucci, which signifies they are structurally sound.
Federal inspection of the bridges also reported no “flags,” which would indicate a serious problem in the bridge.
“It means they”™re functioning as designed, there are no defects,” he said. “That”™s as good of a rating as an old bridge can get.”
The oldest of the authority”™s bridges, the Bear Mountain, opened in 1924. The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the newest, opened in 1963.
Bellucci said underwater pier inspections are performed every five years on the five bridges.
The Bridge Authority”™s bridges are in the midst of that inspection, he said.
The Bridge Authority maintains its infrastructure solely through toll collection, which is one dollar on each bridge going from west to east.
Bellucci said the toll should stay at that amount until around 2011.
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