Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Office of Public Affairs
For Immediate Release July 28, 2008	Contact:	Chuck Wolfe Chuck.Wolfe@ky.gov Robin Jenkins Robin.Jenkins@ky.gov 502-564-3419
Kentucky bridges are safe, but inspections and maintenance costly Study outlines conditions and $140 billion national price tag FRANKFORT, Ky. – One year after the Minneapolis I-35W bridge tragedy, Kentucky works continuously to ensure its 14,000 bridges are safe. Yet the increasing age of the commonwealth’s bridges and the lack of funding to repair or replace the structures remains a primary concern for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Approximately 1,700 state-maintained bridges and 1,100 county-maintained bridges throughout Kentucky are in need of some type of repair. Most bridges are inspected every two years. Bridges found to require a reduced weight limit are inspected at least once per year. Transportation Secretary Joe Prather said approximately $65 million in federal funding and $22 million in state funding is available for bridge inspection and maintenance during fiscal year 2009. “That may sound like a lot, but it just won’t take us very far when you consider the need,” he said. “To give just one example, repair of the Glover-Cary Bridge at Owensboro is estimated to cost $8 million.” Prather was responding to the release today of a national report on the condition of America’s 600,000 bridges. The report, issued by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), underscores the safety of U.S. bridges but finds that one bridge in four needs to be modernized or repaired, despite the best efforts of state transportation officials. AASHTO reports that it could cost $140 billion (in 2006 dollars) to make all needed repairs or upgrades immediately. AASHTO’s report, Bridging the Gap: Restoring and Rebuilding the Nation’s Bridges, outlines the critical challenges ahead. Among the report’s key findings: · Age – Usually built to last 50 years, the average bridge age in this country today is 43, with one in five bridges over 50 years old. As age and traffic increase, so does the need for repair. · Price Tag – Based on data from the Federal Highway Administration, the cost to repair or modernize the country’s bridges is $140 billion – assuming all the bridges were fixed immediately. · Traffic Congestion – Many of the nation’s large-scale bridges have become chokepoints on the country’s freeway system and a drain on the nation’s economy. The top 10 highway interchange bottlenecks cause an average of 1.5 million truck hours of delay each year. · Soaring Construction Costs – The costs of steel, asphalt, concrete and earthwork have risen by at least 50 percent in the past five years, forcing delays of bridge improvements and replacements.  Nearly every state faces funding shortages that prevent them from the kind of ongoing preventive maintenance, repair and replacement needed to keep their bridges sound indefinitely. “This generation of baby boomer bridges is in need of significant repair or replacement. New technology can help us build bridges that are stronger and longer-lasting,” said Pete Rahn, AASHTO president and director of the Missouri Department of Transportation. “Yet we are not seeing the kind of national attention we need to address these issues.” Bridging the Gap also points to several solutions. Among them: · Increased investment in transportation at all levels of government – federal, state and local; · Support for a wide range of revenue options such as tolls, tax increases, annual road user fees, bonds or private investment; · Continued commitment to research and innovation; · Systematic maintenance to extend the life of bridges; and · Increased public awareness that bridges are vital links to business and communities. AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley said, “Across the nation, state and local transportation agencies are struggling to keep our country’s bridges safe, sound and fit for the future. A new generation of bridges must be built and Bridging the Gap points the way.” For a full copy of the report or to see a video on its key findings, visit www.transportation.org ####