Gordon’s Committee Examines Bridge Safety Research
September 19, 2007, WASHINGTON – A congressional hearing chaired by U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon focused on improving bridge safety through research and technology development to prevent future bridge collapses.
“A Road Improvement Survey in 2005 found 37 interstate highway bridges in Tennessee to be deficient,” said Gordon. “Clearly, the disaster that struck Minnesota could have happened anywhere. This is a wakeup call that we need to be doing more to strengthen and secure our bridges now and for the long term.”
Gordon’s Science and Technology Committee held the hearing today (Sept. 19) to address the serious problems in U.S. bridge infrastructure after last month’s disastrous I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota. The committee has jurisdiction over surface transportation research and development, which includes innovative building materials and construction methods.
The hearing explored the current state of bridge-related research and development, including government and academic research into materials, design elements, and testing and inspection technologies. Witnesses at the hearing discussed future research priorities for improving bridge infrastructure and maintaining current bridges to avoid catastrophic failure.
The panel of federal, state, academic and private industry experts explained how bridges are currently tested for safety and how states prioritize repairs to bridges that have been deemed deficient. The witnesses also examined avenues for future research geared toward better understanding the changing demands placed on U.S. bridge infrastructure.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory, 12.4 percent of all U.S. bridges were classified as “structurally deficient” in 2006. The bridge that collapsed in Minnesota was one of the 73,764 bridges on the list. Tennessee had 1,324 bridges listed as structurally deficient.
The definition of structural deficiency is broad and can cover everything from non-structural paving issues to serious flaws. State and local inspectors are responsible for determining which bridges need the most immediate attention.
Inspectors use visual inspection, sensors and other methods to determine if a bridge is in immediate need of repair. The existing methods are imperfect and additional research is needed to develop methods that will provide better data.
“New technologies are useful insofar as they are adopted by builders and inspectors,” said Gordon. “I hope to hear more about technology transfer programs and what we can all do to make innovative technologies more accessible to the hardworking engineers and inspectors that need them.”
