Bridge Safety Issues a Concern After Bay Bridge Debris Collapse
Nov 16, 2009 Pedestrian Accidents, Personal Injury, Product Liability
In October, repair work was done on the San Francisco Bay Bridge which resulted in steel from that work breaking off and crashing into an upper deck. The bridge was closed off until further notice, but thankfully there were no injuries caused by the accident. Many motorists who were lodged in rush hour traffic no doubt did get the scare of their lives as they witnessed cable and large blocks of steel flying everywhere.
The added burden of having to accommodate motorists who did use the bridge is being felt by the transit systems, but the inconvenience caused by this closing is the least of concerns. The incident with the Bay Bridge is just a small sampling of the problems with the county’s bridges, according to bridge safety experts. It is believed that strong winds caused the steel beams and metal rods to snap off and crash onto the deck, and investigators claim that the metal that went flying about was from the repair job that was done during the Labor Day holiday this past September.
The Bay Bridge incident really concerned San Francisco personal injury attorneys who blogged about the 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse that resulted in the deaths of 13 people. According to safety experts, the Bay Bridge incident is a symptom of what is believed to be happening with thousands of bridges across the country. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers claim that America’s bridges are in serious condition. The Minnesota bridge collapse two years ago was labeled as “structurally deficient” by the federal government. While these words seem to be a strong warning, according to ABC news one out of every four of our 80,000 bridges is structurally deficient.
It seems that the major cause of these problems is the age of our bridges. Most American bridges are designed to service motorists for 50 years, and the average age of bridges in our country is 43 years. Performing proper maintenance and repairs on these bridges is crucial, but apparently not all of this important work is being done. The cost of doing this maintenance is estimated at $17 billion per year to tax payers, and currently only $10 billion is being spent, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.
A bill has been introduced that would provide more money over the next 6 years to be spent on infrastructure by James Oberstar, a representative from Minnesota, but thus far it hasn’t been high on anyone’s priority list. Several states have performed repairs on bridges using stimulus funds, but this doesn’t touch the massive repairs that are needed to avoid tragedies like the one that occurred in Minnesota.
Article provided by Dataflurry Law Firm Marketing representing personal injury attorneys in New York
