The US state of Missouri said it is fighting a losing battle to maintain its 641 bridges that are listed in critical condition - one-step away from being closed to traffic.
Engineers in the southern state’s department of transportation said around US$820 million is needed to repair or replace the 641 bridges, three of which were closed to traffic last year.
The critical list has expanded with the addition of 50 more bridges since last year. And the critical list is expected to grow to around 1,500 bridges – around 10% of the state’s total bridges - within a decade, according to a report by the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.
The newspaper quotes state bridge engineer Dennis Heckman saying that his department should replace more than 100 bridges a year instead of the 30 for which it has plans. “In general, it’s not realistic that we’ll ever get it to zero,” he said.
The funding problem, however, could have been at least partly solved if state residents had voted ‘yes’ last year to increasing the Missouri sales tax. This could have generated about $5.4 billion over a decade for roads and bridges as well as ports, railways and public transit.
Also turned down, this time by members of the state legislator, was a proposal to raise the state’s tax on petrol, the Post-Dispatch reported.
For a two-minute television report on Missouri’s deteriorating bridge situation, <%$Linker:2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal click here Visit Missouri’s deteriorating bridge situation page false http://www.ky3.com/news/local/list-of-missouri-deteriorating-bridges-keeps-growing/21048998_35070588 false false %>.
Engineers in the southern state’s department of transportation said around US$820 million is needed to repair or replace the 641 bridges, three of which were closed to traffic last year.
The critical list has expanded with the addition of 50 more bridges since last year. And the critical list is expected to grow to around 1,500 bridges – around 10% of the state’s total bridges - within a decade, according to a report by the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.
The newspaper quotes state bridge engineer Dennis Heckman saying that his department should replace more than 100 bridges a year instead of the 30 for which it has plans. “In general, it’s not realistic that we’ll ever get it to zero,” he said.
The funding problem, however, could have been at least partly solved if state residents had voted ‘yes’ last year to increasing the Missouri sales tax. This could have generated about $5.4 billion over a decade for roads and bridges as well as ports, railways and public transit.
Also turned down, this time by members of the state legislator, was a proposal to raise the state’s tax on petrol, the Post-Dispatch reported.
For a two-minute television report on Missouri’s deteriorating bridge situation, <%$Linker:
