One reads from Patty Murray of Wisconsin Public Radio that 1,054 of State’s Bridges Need Repair:
Wisconsin has 14,275 bridges. Of those, 1,054 — or 7.4 percent — have been deemed structurally deficient in a new report.
According to the report issued by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, the state has identified necessary repairs on 1,955 bridges in Wisconsin at an estimated cost of $1.4 billion.
Wisconsin bridges are inspected at least once every two years, said Bill Oliva, chief of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation‘s Structural Development Section.
“Drivers do not need to be concerned about safety in that we have a very robust inspection program to identify those bridges that have a condition issue,” he said, adding that overall Wisconsin’s bridges are “above average.”
Still, the report indicated structurally deficient bridges need urgent repair. It also said most of the bridges that were identified as structurally deficient were built more than 60 years ago.
The report shows thousands of drivers cross a deficient bridge every day, but did indicate that the number of unsound bridges in the state has fallen over the last four years.
Neither Wisconsin nor any other place has unlimited resources, but in many places one finds local special interests that expect more for themselves even if limited resources must be diverted from maintenance to support their local desires.
Build, build, build ignores the need to repair, repair, repair.
In the race to the trough, local interests seldom see more than a few inches past their snouts.