America's Failing Infrastructure

 

The Nightly News on NBC tonight had a piece on the crumbling infrastructure of the United States.

They have on their website a "Bridge Tracker" in which you input your origin and destination and it shows you all of the bridges you will cross. You can also choose to show just Functionally Obsolete, Structurally Deficient or "Not Deficient" bridges, or any combination thereof.
By mousing over the bridges along your route, a pop up will show when the last inspection was, the status of the bridge, the road or feature it crosses, the year it was built, the amount of daily traffic, etc.

They also provide a state by state XLS spreadsheets with all of this information and more, INCLUDING Long/Lat.

I'll eventually make a POI file for Arizona that will alert me when I am approaching bridges that are obsolete or deficient, but my poi creation queue is a bit backed up so it will be several weeks or more before I get to build this file.

If someone else wants to take on the POI file creation, for individual states or for the entire nation, please do.

The Bridge Tracker can be found at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21840954

and the individual xls files are at:

http://powerreporting.com/files/msnbc/

The readme file states this information can be freely used as long as proper credit is given.

--
Drivesmart 66, Nuvi 2595LMT (Died), Nuvi 1490T (Died), Nuvi 260 (Died), GPSMAP 195

Bridges

Thanks, rocknicehunter.

I've seen this site before, it was put up after the bridge failure around Minneapolis, but I haven't seen a link to it in a long time and thought it was gone. I bookmarked it this time.

I don't see any deficient bridges around my area in the Upper Peninsula. Is anybody not so lucky?

Bridges

rocknicehunter,

I will attempt to work on the file for MD. Will peck away at it as I get time.
Very interesting information.

What's With Texas?

Great post RH. I asked for a route between my home (Arizona) and family members in Florida. It's clear sailing except Texas and Louisiana where structurally unsound and deficient bridges seem more the rule than the exception. Maybe more information than I wanted to know? wink

Cheers

--
Garmin GPS III, GPS V, StreetPilot 2610, Mobile 10, Nuvi 660, Nuvi 760

Hurricanes?!?

John Lawrence wrote:

Great post RH. I asked for a route between my home (Arizona) and family members in Florida. It's clear sailing except Texas and Louisiana where structurally unsound and deficient bridges seem more the rule than the exception. Maybe more information than I wanted to know? wink

Cheers

Damage from recent hurricanes, maybe? When crossing these bridges, don't stop, keep moving - FAST! wink

--
Tampa, FL - Garmin nüvi 660 (Software Ver 4.90), 2021.20 CN NA NT maps | Magellan Meridian Gold

Bridge Safety

rocknicehunter wrote:

The Nightly News on NBC tonight had a piece on the crumbling infrastructure of the United States.

They have on their website a "Bridge Tracker" in which you input your origin and destination and it shows you all of the bridges you will cross. You can also choose to show just Functionally Obsolete, Structurally Deficient or "Not Deficient" bridges, or any combination thereof.
By mousing over the bridges along your route, a pop up will show when the last inspection was, the status of the bridge, the road or feature it crosses, the year it was built, the amount of daily traffic, etc.

They also provide a state by state XLS spreadsheets with all of this information and more, INCLUDING Long/Lat.

I'll eventually make a POI file for Arizona that will alert me when I am approaching bridges that are obsolete or deficient, but my poi creation queue is a bit backed up so it will be several weeks or more before I get to build this file.

If someone else wants to take on the POI file creation, for individual states or for the entire nation, please do.

The Bridge Tracker can be found at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21840954

and the individual xls files are at:

http://powerreporting.com/files/msnbc/

The readme file states this information can be freely used as long as proper credit is given.

The problem with this type of information is that it is INCOMPLETE. It is incomplete in that it does not define the terms it is using: Functionally Obsolete, Structurally Deficient or "Not Deficient". Can anyone tell me what a "Functionally Obsolete" bridge is? How about how someone determines if a bridge is structurally deficient? These terms mean a lot to the engineers that design and build bridges, but they mean very little to the average person.

A bridge may be declared "Functionally Obsolete" if the design is no longer considered current. The San Francisco Golden Gate bridge can be considered as "Functionally Obsolete" as there are newer designs that can span the same distances with greater load capacity. A bridge that has pavement that is pitted or broken can be classified as "structurally deficient." The point is there are no bridges open for traffic that are unsafe.

After the I-35W bridge collapse, every state surveyed all the bridges in their inventory and graded them according to the federal standard of "Functionally Obsolete", "Structurally deficient" or "Not deficient." The majority of bridges that are classified as "structurally deficient" and those that are being limited as to the size and number of vehicles using the bridge are not on highways but are in cities and counties where it is the responsibility of the local public works departments to maintain them.

So when looking at lists like this, you need to ask yourself how the bridge was classified - and it was done after an inspection, and what is being done to correct the problem? For functionally obsolete bridges, the only answer may be replacement.

For an official source on bridges, try the US Department of Transportation (https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/) As Joe Friday would say, "Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts."

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Rickety bridges

John Lawrence wrote:

Great post RH. I asked for a route between my home (Arizona) and family members in Florida. It's clear sailing except Texas and Louisiana where structurally unsound and deficient bridges seem more the rule than the exception. Maybe more information than I wanted to know? wink

Cheers

Yeah, I'm not sure I want to know either.

This just feeds into the worst anxieties for gephyrophobics. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12355
...which I'm not, but I don't want to get there.

I take a pretty philosophical approach to all this. If your time is up, your time is up, and being on a bridge that collapses is unlucky lottery odds.

Rope bridge scene from Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, anyone??

--
JMoo On

I agree

dagarmin wrote:
John Lawrence wrote:

Great post RH. I asked for a route between my home (Arizona) and family members in Florida. It's clear sailing except Texas and Louisiana where structurally unsound and deficient bridges seem more the rule than the exception. Maybe more information than I wanted to know? wink

Cheers

Yeah, I'm not sure I want to know either.

This just feeds into the worst anxieties for gephyrophobics. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12355
...which I'm not, but I don't want to get there.

I take a pretty philosophical approach to all this. If your time is up, your time is up, and being on a bridge that collapses is unlucky lottery odds.

Rope bridge scene from Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, anyone??

when it's your time it's your time.
When the man calls you home, your going to be driving along and there is a bridge that collapsed ahead you, and you are totally oblivious to it because it's night time and your on the road alone, then over you go! or you step off the curb and get hit by the express bus. Either way your going to punch your card and go home.

With that said, What this country needs is another public works project to start fixing America's Failing Infrastructure, it's been 70 years or longer since this stuff was built in the first place. After all the country won't be able to keep everyone on welfare with out them working.

--
Using Android Based GPS.The above post and my sig reflects my own opinions, expressed for the purpose of informing or inspiring, not commanding. Naturally, you are free to reject or embrace whatever you read.

Not All Bridges Here

The web site states that it covers only bridges that get at least 10,000 vehicles per day. A local 1,000 ft. bridge has been rated "obsolete" by the state of Maryland and is scheduled for replacement. It doesn't show up on the web site. Must be because they believe fewer than 10,000 vehicles cross it daily.

--
Tuckahoe Mike - Nuvi 3490LMT, Nuvi 260W, iPhone X, Mazda MX-5 Nav

Great

Just when I was accumulating more reasons not to fly the ever increasingly unfriendly skies, now I see this!? It is a great post, I guess road trips will require a bit more pre-planning smile

Corrections and additions

My mistake in saying "all bridges". This is obviously not correct. As Tuckahoemike points out, it's only for bridges that carry 10k vehicles or more per day.

a_user states " ... or an official source on bridges, try the US Department of Transportation ..."

If you read the readme you'll see that the data originally came from the Federal Highway Administration. I may have missed it but I don't see the link to this specific data at the url you cited.

Actually opening the files and looking at the data provided you'll see each bridge has a large amount of information in the xls files, including the overall status, with separate fields for the condition of the deck, superstructure and substructure and text of the overall evaluation of the bridge's condition.

As with any data, the information in these files can be useful or useless to the end user depending on their needs and their own understanding of what the data means. I'm just pointing out that the information provided to the Federal government by each state is available in a format that can be used by those who use GPSr units when they travel.

Just like every poi file on this site and those included by the manufacturer of your GPSr, it is up to the end user to understand the data included and how that data was derived for themselves.

--
Drivesmart 66, Nuvi 2595LMT (Died), Nuvi 1490T (Died), Nuvi 260 (Died), GPSMAP 195

Speed

Gary A wrote:
John Lawrence wrote:

Cheers

Damage from recent hurricanes, maybe? When crossing these bridges, don't stop, keep moving - FAST! wink

But officer, I was only speeding so I would spend less time on these deficient bridges!

Then again, if I'm going too fast, maybe I won't be able to stop in time if the bridge collapses as I approach.

Darn Paradox

--
TomTom built in and Garmin Nuvi 1490T. Eastern Iowa, formerly Southern California "You can check out any time you like...but you can never leave."

Or...

capst wrote:
Gary A wrote:
John Lawrence wrote:

Cheers

Damage from recent hurricanes, maybe? When crossing these bridges, don't stop, keep moving - FAST! wink

But officer, I was only speeding so I would spend less time on these deficient bridges!

Then again, if I'm going too fast, maybe I won't be able to stop in time if the bridge collapses as I approach.

Darn Paradox

a conundrum grin

--
Tampa, FL - Garmin nüvi 660 (Software Ver 4.90), 2021.20 CN NA NT maps | Magellan Meridian Gold

Yes, we do need to invest in infrastructure

BobDee wrote:
dagarmin wrote:
John Lawrence wrote:

Great post RH. I asked for a route between my home (Arizona) and family members in Florida. It's clear sailing except Texas and Louisiana where structurally unsound and deficient bridges seem more the rule than the exception. Maybe more information than I wanted to know? wink

Cheers

Yeah, I'm not sure I want to know either.

This just feeds into the worst anxieties for gephyrophobics. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12355
...which I'm not, but I don't want to get there.

I take a pretty philosophical approach to all this. If your time is up, your time is up, and being on a bridge that collapses is unlucky lottery odds.

Rope bridge scene from Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, anyone??

when it's your time it's your time.
When the man calls you home, your going to be driving along and there is a bridge that collapsed ahead you, and you are totally oblivious to it because it's night time and your on the road alone, then over you go! or you step off the curb and get hit by the express bus. Either way your going to punch your card and go home.

With that said, What this country needs is another public works project to start fixing America's Failing Infrastructure, it's been 70 years or longer since this stuff was built in the first place. After all the country won't be able to keep everyone on welfare with out them working.

Yes, I do agree, I should have added that. I'd much rather have federal stimulus money going to reviving infrastructure than going to prop up companies that the free market is poised to polish off, with overpaid executives and autoworkers.

--
JMoo On

Louisiana

Being in the transportation business I can tell you that the bridges here in Louisiana are just not taken care of. Nothing really to do with Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike.

--
"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score" Lombardi