T4America Blog

News, press releases and other updates

Posts Tagged "The Fix We’re In For"

New report ranks worst counties in Oregon for aging bridges, finds state’s 439 structurally deficient bridges carry 1,000 vehicles every minute

A new Transportation for America report analyzes the condition of Oregon’s bridges and finds that 439 are structurally deficient — requiring urgent repair, rehabilitation or replacement. These 439 bridges represent 5.5 percent of all Oregon bridges.

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New T4America report chronicles the prevalence of Minnesota’s structurally deficient bridges

As the state legislature debates legislation to increase transportation funding, T4America released a new report looking at the prevalence of structurally deficient bridges in the state of Minnesota. This report is a state-level version of “The Fix We’re In For”, a report we’ve issued several times since 2011, with 2015 statistics for Minnesota.

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Key Senate committee recognizes the importance of passenger rail, TIGER, transit and repairing our nation’s bridges

Less than a week after the release of The Fix We’re In For — our report on the nation’s bridges showing that one in nine US bridges are structurally deficient — a key Senate committee passed a yearly funding bill that provides new money for repairing these deficient bridges across the country.

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Highlights from the great coverage of our bridge report

It’s easy to be cynical about our often frivolous media environment these days, but it is heartening to see the seriousness with which outlets of all sizes are treating reports about the need to maintain our aging bridges and other infrastructure. In addition to dozens of newspaper and web reports, more than 500 broadcast outlets have picked up yesterday’s release of the “The Fix We’re in For”, the 2013 edition of our report on bridge conditions nationwide.

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The backlog of our country’s deficient bridges is indeed shrinking, but barely

We hope you had a chance to check out our new report yesterday on the state of our nation’s bridges? 1 in 9 US bridges — about 66,500 in total — are rated structurally deficient and in urgent need of repairs, maintenance or even replacement. This is an updated version of the data we released two years ago, and the findings are much the same: Everyday, Americans of all different stripes drive across these deficient bridges, with more than 260 million trips taken each day on these bridges. And though we’ve gotten about 0.5 percent better nationally in the last two years, from 11.5 to 11 percent total deficient, that’s only a difference of about 2,400 deficient bridges.

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Release: New report highlights mounting challenge of aging bridges, ranks states

One in nine of the bridges and overpasses American drivers cross each day is rated in poor enough condition that some could become dangerous or be closed without near-term repair, according to an updated analysis of federal data released today by Transportation for America. Nearly 67,000 of the nation’s 605,000 bridges are rated “structurally deficient” and are in need of substantial repair or replacement, according to bridge inspections analyzed in The Fix We’re In For: The State of the Nation’s Bridges 2013. Nearly 8,000 are both structurally deficient and “fracture critical”, meaning they are designed with no redundancy in their key structural components, so that if one fails the bridge could collapse. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that the backlog of troubled bridges would cost $76 billion to eliminate.

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One in 9 bridges still “structurally deficient” as average age nears 50 years

One in nine of the bridges and overpasses American drivers cross each day is rated in poor enough condition that some could become dangerous or be closed without near-term repair, according to our new 2013 report on the nation’s bridges. Lay them all end-to-end and you could drive from Mexico to Canada across the US on one long deficient bridge. Don’t miss our new 2013 report and interactive map.

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About those 66,000+ deficient bridges: What did last summer’s transportation law change?

With the second collapse of an Interstate bridge in six years, Americans might expect Congress to leap into action to ensure adequate funding for bridge rehab and replacement. But as we have reminded numerous reporters since an I-5 bridge dropped into Washington’s Skagit River, federal lawmakers instead took a gamble and eliminated the nation’s dedicated bridge repair fund last summer.

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Bridge collapse in Washington captures national attention

Unsurprisingly, the sudden collapse of the 58-year-old Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River in Washington state last Thursday night captured the attention of the country and virtually all major national news outlets. Just like in the days after the Minnesapolis I-35W bridge collapse — though mercifully no one died in this incident — reporters scrambled to understand the issue of bridge condition and asked the same question: “how could this happen, and could it happen again somewhere else tomorrow?”

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Tragic bridge collapse in Washington highlights urgent problem of aging and deficient US bridges

Transportation for America issued the following statement following last night’s collapse of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River near Mount Vernon, Washington.

“The shocking collapse of a busy Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River in Washington State highlights the issue of our country’s aging bridges and what we’re doing to address them. Thankfully, no one was killed or even seriously injured in this collapse, which could not be said about the last high profile bridge collapse in Minnesota.

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58-year-old bridge collapses in Washington State on west coast’s most major interstate

Shortly after the evening commute last night (around 7 p.m. local time) an entire section of the Interstate 5 bridge — both north and southbound lanes — over the Skagit River north of Seattle, Washington collapsed and fell into the river, sending two cars tumbling down into the river, injuring three yet miraculously killing no one. One of those who plunged into the river along with his wife called it a “miracle” that no one was killed or more severely injured.

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A real plan to fix bridges, or a reprise of attacks on pedestrian safety?

Our reports calling attention to our nation’s deficient bridges have gained enormous traction in recent weeks, to the point that members of Congress and the White House are citing our data in demonstrating the need for infrastructure investment. Unfortunately, some are using them to make disingenuous attempts to eliminate a small program they’ve been trying […]

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New Report Ranks Deficient Bridges by Metro Areas

This new report from T4 America ranks metropolitan areas on the condition of their bridges, and finds that more than 18,000 bridges in our largest metropolitan areas are rated “structurally deficient.” This new look at the bridge data from earlier in 2011 finds that just a quarter of deficient U.S. bridges, located in these 102 metropolitan areas over 500,000 people, carry 75 percent of all traffic crossing a deficient bridge each day.

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President Obama’s Ohio visit again highlights the vast and growing need to address America’s aging and deficient bridges

President Obama’s visit to the Brent Spence Bridge bordering Ohio and Kentucky today calls much-needed attention to the urgency of bridge repair and rehabilitation throughout the country. Those needs are clearly visible in these detailed state-by-state reports and county level bridge data — including an interactive, searchable map of every deficient bridge in America.

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In wake of Ohio River bridge closure, NBC Nightly News examines the sorry state of U.S. bridges

At least one person somewhere in the U.S. is driving over a structurally deficient bridge every minute, according to T4 America director James Corless in a report on the woeful condition of our nation’s bridges on NBC Nightly News Sunday evening. Watch the segment and learn more about our country’s bridges.

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Structurally deficient bridges and President Obama’s jobs bill

Last night after President Obama’s speech to Congress, attention turned to analysis of the speech and the President’s plan to take it on the road to the districts of key Representatives and Senators. Chris Matthews of MSNBC referenced Transportation for America and our data on structurally deficient bridges as an important part of making the […]

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Newspaper editorial boards urge action on repairing bridges

In the days since our comprehensive bridge report (The Fix We’re In) was released, at least one governor has promised action, and several newspaper editorials have urged their states to prioritize repair and address the growing backlog of deficient bridges.

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