Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/894232
EquipmentWorld.com | November 2017 29 aged by oversized loads, "it reduces the number of bridges we can keep from becoming SD," he says. Nebraska expects to decrease its number of SD bridges through increased allocation to the County Bridge Match program that targets small SD bridges on local systems, says Kent Miller, assistant bridge en- gineer, Nebraska DOT. "However, the rate of deterio- ration appears to slightly exceed the rate of improv- ing conditions overall," he says. Several of New Mexico's SD bridges are scheduled for either replacement or repair, according to Jeff Vigil with the state's DOT. "In addition, the DOT has also allocated specific funding for minor bridge reha- bilitations and preservation projects," Vigil says. "Addressing the 67 SD state-owned bridges is a top priority," says Maurice Agostino, deputy director of the Office of Structures with the Maryland DOT. Impact of Atlanta's I-85 collapse In March, the I-85 bridges over Piedmont Avenue in Atlanta were destroyed by fire, becoming the biggest bridge story of 2017 to date. It made us curious. How were DOTs responding to the lesson learned about storing combustible materials under bridges, one of the contributing factors to the I-85 fire? Almost half of the 43 entities responding to our sur- vey said they had reviewed and/or changed how they store materials under bridges. Caltrans, for example, identified the need for a policy specific to mate- rial storage under bridges, which it expects to adopt by year's end, says Gerlach. In Delaware, the DOT reviewed its bridge inventory to identify bridges with storage materials and worked with various entities that had stored materials to have the materials removed, says Jason Arndt, Delaware DOT. It's also adopting an official policy. In Kansas, the DOT updated its policy to include photos of stored materials during routine bridge in- spections. "Regional DOT offices now review existing legal agreements or permits," says Kulseth. Other states also made changes. Kentucky bridge inspectors now note anything stored under a bridge and call out anything suspicious, Steele says. Pennsyl- vania revised two policy letters related to combustible material storage. "We also added an inspection input item to Bridge Management Systems to document the presence of these materials," Winslow says. Some states – including Maryland, Utah and Nevada Photo: Washington State DOT