Are Indiana’s Bridges Wearing Out?
September 20, 2011
Hundreds of Indiana’s bridges may be wearing out, reports The Indianapolis Star. This chatter follows the closing of the six-lane Interstate 64 bridge that carries 80,000 cars a day between Southern Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky.
Governor Mitch Daniels ordered the bridge closed after cracks were found in two of the bridge’s support beams. In the meantime, drivers have endured hours of back-to-back traffic as they turn to the I-65 bridge instead.
The Star says, “The closing [of the I-64 bridge] does raise one question that could resonate across the state: How many other Indiana bridges are below standard, and how much will it cost to fix them?”
Indiana currently has 469 state-maintained bridges that the Federal Highway Administration deems structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. This doesn’t taken into account the thousands of other bridges owned by counties, cities, and towns.
“Today, one out of every nine bridges that motorists in Indiana cross each day are likely to be deteriorating to some degree,” according to a bridge condition study done recently by Transportation for America.
So what’s the hold-up on mending Indiana’s bridges? Money.
The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that it would take $3.5 billion to repair or replace all of Indiana’s deteriorating bridges.
If you or someone you know has been involved in an Indiana injury or accident, the Indiana lawyers at Woods and Woods can help.
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