Equipment World Digital Magazine
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restorative maintenance." When asked in the survey if any aspect of his department could be changed to improve bridges, Matteo mentioned creating a dedicated fund used to repair and replace structures. In addition to keeping bridges in good condi- tion it would also have a second- ary goal of slowly bringing the structures in poor condition up to good condition. That pesky, perennial problem of funding remains the greatest challenge to lowering Virginia's rate of structurally deficient (SD) and functionally obsolete (FO) bridges in the coming year, but re- gardless of this roadblock, Matteo says the state still expects to lower its number of SD/FO bridges. How the states stack up: A look at the top five 1. District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.): 57 percent combined SD/FO bridges Don Cooney, infrastructure project management administrator for the District's agency, says "All but one of our structurally deficient bridges is in the department's six-year plan for rehabilitation or construction. Several are under construction. Only lack of funding would affect the program. Insuf- ficient funding will delay imple- menting design and construction of bridge projects." On self-ranking scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being the poorest), Cooney gives D.C. a 3.5. Why? "Several rehabilitation projects have been completed and 18 new bridges have been added to the inventory." Washington, D.C., has 209 total bridges, 120 of which are rated both SD/FO. 2. Rhode Island: 51 percent combined SD/FO bridges Rhode Island reports having 757 total bridges, and 387 are com- bined SD/FO. Fifty-one percent (310 out of 612) of its total number of interstate and state bridges are also combined SD/ FO. Fifty-three percent of its total January 2015 | EquipmentWorld.com 50 bridge inventory | continued Alabama A T Arizona A C T Arkansas C A T California T A C Colorado O Delaware A C District of Columbia C A Florida T C Hawaii C A T Kansas T C O Kentucky C T A O Louisiana O T C A Maryland A C Minnesota O Missouri C A T Montana C Nebraska C T A New Mexico A O New York C A North Carolina A C T North Dakota A T Ohio O C A T Oklahoma C A T Rhode Island C A South Carolina A C T South Dakota C A T O Texas C T O A Utah C A Virginia C O T A Washington O C T A West Virginia C O T A What causes the most damage to bridges? (A)ge (C)orrosion (T)raffic (O)ther Source: Randall-Reilly 2014 Bridge Inventory Data compiled by Linda Hapner