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Area and state bridges to be inspected in wake of Minnesota collapse
"Most all of our structures are a simple span," he said. "Each section of the bridge is self-supported…. We have to inspect all of our bridges every two years and a lot of them every year." The county bridges were last inspected beginning late 2006 and ending earlier this year. For a long time, there were seven bridges that were posted with weight limits. Six were replaced with funding from the GARVEE-Amendment One bridge program, passed in 2000. One bridge remains, a relief structure on County Road 21 between Highways 84 and 154. "It's got timber piling under it," Noble said. "That's why its rated like it is….We'll be looking to replace it through our regular allocation each year." The county Road and Bridge Department receives $500,000 in federal aid earmarked for bridge replacement or resurfacing on county roads designated as "a major collector." Noble said there had been talk of another bond issue bridge program. In addition, the bridge bureau recently came out with a new rating for concrete deck designs with steel pilings under them. Several bridges had to be posted with a weight limit for a tri-axle dump truck, he said. Approximately 2,100 of Alabama's nearly 15,827 highway bridges are classified by the Federal Highway Administration as being "structurally deficient," the same ranking given the Minnesota bridge. Gov. Bob Riley ordered inspections of the three bridges in Alabama with designs similar to the Minneapolis bridge: State Highway 14 over the Tallapoosa River in the City of Tallassee; State Highway 22 over the Coosa River in Chilton County; and US Highway 43 over the Tennessee River in the Cities of Sheffield and Florence (approach spans). Engineer Noble said he had not yet received any formal instructions from the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) to inspect bridges. ALDOT Director Joe McInnes told The Birmingham News he met with bridge inspectors, but there was little that could be done in Alabama until the cause of the Minneapolis disaster was determined. "There is no need for the traveling public to be concerned about bridges in Alabama," McInnes said.
Four state maintained bridges on Highway 69 in Clarke County are included on a ALDOT list of bridges "classified as structurally deficient:" Stave Creek, Jackson Creek, Jackson Creek Relief and Kanetuche Creek. The term "structurally deficient" is used to describe bridges that are eligible for replacement funds - it does not mean that those bridges are unsafe, read an ALDOT press release. Bridges that are deemed unsafe are either load restricted (ie, posted) to a safe level, or closed.
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