Why Regular Inspection of Transportation Facilities is Critical to Public Safety: Fid-Bau Portal

Why Regular Inspection of Transportation Facilities is Critical to Public Safety

Nicholson, Abram J. "Nick"

Over the past twenty years, regulatory changes, identified problems, and continued growth of our population and commerce have resulted in a greater need to perform structural inspections of transportation facilities on a regular basis. A problem of growing damages to bridges identified over time has resulted in increasing the minimum design stress for H-20 loading. Older bridges were not designed to meet the new criterion. More and heavier trucks are using our roads every day, increasing the rates of deterioration of bridges and pavements. Growing traffic on our waterways is increasing the probabilities of a barge — bridge collision that can result in a disaster. Aging highway signage and high mast lighting (luminaries) are becoming structurally unsound, usually due to failing connections, and are dropping to the roadway with large potential for damages and risk of loss of life. Concerning bridges, the Federal Highway Administration established mandatory guidelines for periodic inspections, both above and below water. This has resulted in steady, if slow, improvement over the years. The number of structurally deficient bridges has dropped from 93,359 in 1998 to 81,582 in 2003. That's a reduction of 11,777 deficient bridges. During the same period, 5,540 new bridges were constructed. The actual percentage of structurally deficient bridges went down from 0.153% to 0.132%. Some states are deterring their responsibility for bridge maintenance by soliciting bids from private companies to be fully responsible for inspections and repairs, quite possibly lowering the standards for qualifications of the people performing the inspections. This is a low bid system; meaning that the least qualified people will be performing the inspections. While the Federal government did establish minimum guidelines and requirements for bridge inspections, it has not established similar requirements for signs or luminaries. As a result, some states do not inspect signs or luminaries. The value of regular inspections of bridges being required, not optional, has been proven in the past. Similar requirements for bridge pier protection, highway signs, and luminaries should be in place. Without regular inspections, the first sign of a problem is a failure and collapse, quite possibly injuring or killing a number of people.