WV HAS 36% "BAD" BRIDGES - 2,544 Deficient Or Obsolete

(01/31/2008)

After 13 people died last August when a freeway bridge fell into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, there was an increase in public awareness regarding the nation's bridges. West Virginia ranks the 7th worst in the nation, related to structural deficiency and being functionally obsolete, which includes 2,544 Mountain State bridges. There are 6,947 bridges in the state. The study says 36% of the bridges are "bad." The Herald has reported on the condition of county and regional bridges for several years. Following the last big collapse, the public was assured that bridges are safe, because federal regulations require inspection of "every bridge at least once every two years." Now, an MSNBC study shows that at least 17,000 bridges in the U.S. went more than two years between safety inspections, according to federal records. West Virginia was the 5th worst state with inspections, with 844 bridges not inspected during the past two years of the study.

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