Obama is going to Ohio with his Jobs Plan.
Chris Matthews said Bohner's state has 95 bridges in peril & Chris will scroll the names of them when he follows up Obama's visit.
Those 95 must be very bad, since this data shows 2,743 have structual problems. clo
Bridges here and across Ohio are deficient and need repairs, study says
Published: Thursday, March 31, 2011, 5:56 AM
By Tom Breckenridge, The Plain Dealer
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The Inner Belt Bridge is among a growing number of aging spans with structural deterioration, a new study finds.
CLEVELAND -- Nearly one of eight bridges in Cuyahoga County is structurally deficient, including -- not surprisingly -- the heavily traveled Inner Belt Bridge, a new report says.
That doesn't mean the bridges are in peril. But the aging, deteriorating condition of spans here and nationwide begs for more funding to fix the problems, the nonprofit Transportation for America said in a report released Tuesday.
Using federal data, the report found that one of nine bridges nationwide is structurally deficient and needs "significant maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement."
"Since the 2007 collapse of the ... bridge in Minneapolis, Americans have been acutely aware of the critical need to maintain our bridges," said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. "As Congress takes up the next transportation bill, it is imperative that we devote a larger share of funding to protecting our bridges."
The nonprofit, whose members include environmental, real estate and fair housing interests, advocates for a modernized, healthier transportation system.
Its report said that nearly 70,000 bridges nationally were rated structurally deficient in 2009,
with 2,743 of them in Ohio, according to the report.
The Federal Highway Administration estimates the cost of repairing or replacing problem bridges at $70.9 billion. But the federal outlay for bridges is about $5 billion a year.
Ohio ranked 29th among states, with nearly 10 percent of its bridges deteriorating, the report said. Pennsylvania ranked first, with one of every four bridges rated as deficient.
Bridges by the numbers
•42: Average age of an American bridge
•42.6: Average age of an Ohio bridge
•27,963: Ohio bridges in the National Bridge Inventory
•1 out of 10: Number of Ohio bridges that are structurally deficient
SOURCE: Transportation for America
Under federal guidelines, a bridge is considered structurally deficient if one of its main components -- including the deck and supporting structure -- is found to be in poor condition, the report said.
By law, bridges must be inspected at least once every two years.
for complete:
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/03/post_448.html
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