September 16, 2008

Highway Bridge Program ignores largest, most deficient structures, report finds

WASHINGTON

Many of the largest and most seriously deficient bridges in the U.S. aren’t getting fixed because a federal program funding bridge repairs is unfocused and lacks sufficient standards, congressional investigators say.

The Highway Bridge Program that provided more than US$4 billion to states last year has become so broad that “nearly any bridge” is potentially eligible for federal aid, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office released recently.

The number of structurally deficient bridges in the U.S. decreased 22 percent between 1998 and 2007 — from 93,118 to 73,519. But most improvements have been to locally owned and rural bridges rather than the largest bridges in urban areas that carry the most people and goods, the report said.

“The federal interest in bridges lacks focus, there are no effective measures of program performance, and the impact of the increasing federal investment in bridges is unclear,” the report said.

The Federal Highway Administration, which administers the bridge program, said in a statement that the agency has “long cautioned that Congress’ insistence on establishing over 100 federal transportation programs presents states with needless overlaps, conflicting guidance and cumbersome process requirements.

“That is why we have called on Congress to significantly reduce the number of federal programs so states can be provided with clearer direction on how to ensure that crucial infrastructure needs are fully met.”

The GAO report is being released a little over a year after the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis brought national attention to the issue of bridge safety. In July, the House passed a bill that would add $1 billion to the bridge program, but the Senate hasn’t yet acted.

Katherine Siggerud, GAO’s managing director for infrastructure issues and author of the report, said in testimony prepared for a hearing by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that often “the largest and most critical bridges ... are too expensive to be funded.”

That’s the case with the Pulaski Skyway — a 3.5 mile bridge connecting Newark and Jersey City that’s crossed by 85,000 to 95,000 people a day. The bridge, over 75 years old, has a zero sufficiency rating — the lowest possible rating on a scale of zero to 100 under the bridge program, Kris Kolluri, New Jersey’s transportation commissioner, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Sufficiency ratings are based on a variety of factors determining a bridge’s suitability for its current use, but do not necessarily mean the bridge is in danger of collapse.

The Pulaski Skyway hasn’t been repaired because the project would cost over US$1 billion.

Faced with how to divvy up the several hundred million dollars in federal bridge funds that New Jersey receives annually, the state decided instead to spread the money among its 2,500 bridges, Kolluri said.

“We’ve decided to make sure every bridge gets a little bit so none is left behind, and every year more bridges graduate to the structurally deficient list,” he said.

Associated Press

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