DORGAN SAYS AMENDMENT WILL HELP ENSURE SAFETY OF BRIDGES IN NORTH DAKOTA, NATIONWIDE
North Dakota DOT says 1 in 5 bridges in North Dakota are inadequate
Monday, September 10, 2007
CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said an amendment approved Monday by the U.S. Senate will give a boost to the effort to ensure bridges in North Dakota and across the country are in good shape.
Dorgan said the amendment, which was sparked by the tragic I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, will direct an additional $1 billion to address critical bridge replacement and repair. Of the 5,026 bridges in North Dakota, 1,031 are described as “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete,” according to the North Dakota Department of Transportation.
Structurally deficient bridges are in poor physical condition or worse. Those designated as functionally obsolete don’t meet current design standards or safety requirements and handle more traffic than originally intended.
“The tragic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis was a shock not just to those of us in the Upper Midwest, but the nation as a whole,” Dorgan said. “It’s clear that our country is facing some significant problems with respect to our transportation infrastructure. This amendment is one step, but an important one, toward addressing that problem.”
The amendment was added to the Fiscal Year 2008 Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill.
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