Iowa fourth in nation for worst bridges

Iowa fourth in nation for worst bridges

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Kent Darr | Feb 20, 2008 | 8:42 pm |

3 min read time

| 782 words | Archive

A transportation research group reported today that only four states in the nation have bridges in worse shape than Iowa. -- Updated on Feb. 20 at 3:05 p.m.

A transportation research group reported today that only four states in the nation have bridges in worse shape than Iowa.

TRIP, which is based in Washington, D.C., said the Iowa Department of Transportation would have to spend $257 million to bring the bridges up to par. While not all of the bridges are unsafe for travel, they have various components, such as decks and structural supports, that are in need of repair or replacement.

“It is really reinforcing what we have been trying to tell the legislature all along,” said Dena Gray-Fisher, an Iowa Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

The Nation Bridge Survey, which is compiled by the federal government, revealed similar deficiencies in state bridges.

Gray-Fisher said the TRIP report was based on data the IDOT supplied in November 2007.

“It basically represents a snapshot in time,” Gray-Fisher said.

The TRIP report found that 26 percent of Iowa bridges either need to be replaced, repaired or brought up to contemporary design standards.

TRIP isolated the state’s worst 100 bridges based on condition, design and average daily traffic. Of the bridges in need of immediate attention, 14 are located in Polk County, one is in Dallas County and two each are in Jasper, Story and Warren counties.

The legislature is debating road-funding mechanisms, including increasing the price of vehicle registrations.

“We have two major interstate highways that intersect in our state and we have a situation where you have such interstate commerce going, that if you don’t have a good road system going it affects the whole nation,” Gray-Fisher said.

The TRIP report said that Pennsylvania, Oklahoma,and Rhode Island have the most bridges in need of repair or replacement.

Polk County

Rank	Highway	County	Area Spanned	Average Daily Traffic	Year Built
15	Interstate 35	Polk	E.P True Parkway, railroad, creek	56,700	1957
29	U.S. Route 65	Polk	Railroad yard and Scott Avenue	30,900	1937
41	Interstate 35	Polk	Grand Avenue	43,100	1957
44	Iowa Route 163	Polk	Camp Creek	11,000	1960
47	Iowa Route 141	Polk	Railroad	9,900	1958
49	Interstate 80	Polk	U.S. 65	39,800	1959
54	Interstate 35	Polk	Grand Avenue	43,100	1957
58	17	Polk	Des Moines River	5,200	1959
64	I-235	Polk	Des Moines River	72,700	1962
75	U.S. Route 6	Polk	Des Moines River	22,600	1933
78	Iowa Route 163	Polk	Four Mile Creek and railroad	18,700	1965
92	Interstate 80	Polk	Drainage ditch	85,100	1958
99	Interstate 80	Polk	Interstate 35 & 80	2,570	1958
100	Interstate 80	Polk	U.S. 65	39,800	1959