Immediately following the collapse, federal officials ordered an inspection of all steel deck truss bridges like the I-35W bridge.  Investigative reporter, Bill Dedman reported the following:
“At first, officials thought there were 756 steel deck truss bridges like the one that fell. That’s how many they found in the official federal database of bridges, the National Bridge Inventory, which gets its records from the states. Then state engineers found 32 more to add to the list. But when states started the inspections, they found that 280 of the bridges weren’t steel deck trusses at all — including 13 bridges made of wood timbers. Another 16 no longer existed; a bridge in Pennsylvania had been closed in 1982. Another 11 were private bridges, not subject to federal inspection. One in New Mexico was a pedestrian bridge. And a bridge in Pennsylvania had been double counted; federal officials had placed an identical ghost bridge in Maryland. By the time the survey was finished, the count of bridges of the same type as the Minneapolis span was down to 479, or 277 fewer than initially reported, according to internal e-mails from the Federal Highway Administration received Thursday by msnbc.com under the Freedom of Information Act.”

The Federal Highway Administration recommended framework for a bridge inspection QA/QC program is comprehensive.  In 2008, they cite six (6) state DOTs that have “existing QC/QA procedures that address specific aspects of the “Recommended Framework” in a manner the FHWA considers commendable.”  Six? Out of all of the DOTs in the US? I do realize that all states must have existing QC/QA procedures.  But only six are “commendable?” What is the status of the remaining state inspection programs? Adequate? Average? Acceptable?

We know that bridge construction has changed over the years.  Improvements in technology for use in bridge design, materials and construction have allowed engineers to project increased longevity of bridges. Structural engineers now describe bridge lifespan in terms of 100 years, instead of 20-50 years. Building new “improved” bridges, are we going to have 50 DOTs with commendable QA/QC inspection programs?

With the ability to build with an eye to sustainability, how do we fix what we have? Where does this leave us with our decaying bridges?  Many of those bridges now require billions of dollars for rehabilitation or replacement. How can we financially repair them if we don’t even have an accurate count of where they are and what type of bridge they are? What do you think?

By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com

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1. When it comes to the transportation sector, has the stimulus made good on its promise or fallen short?
2. What is the most appropriate way to measure its success or failure?
3. How much time should we give it?

Similarly, how would you answer the same questions?

It has been six months since

Congress enacted a $787 billion stimulus package with the promise that it would boost the sagging economy, save and create jobs, and in the case of the $48 billion in transportation funding, jump-start the construction of “shovel-ready,” worthwhile projects. To date, the Department of Transportation says it has made more than $22 billion available to the states and approved more than 6,600 projects, with more than 3,200 of those projects already begun.

If you work in the transportation sector, we would love to hear your views on the subject.

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More on infrastructure

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See the actual letter

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood requests action by the Nation’s Governors to make certifications and other assurances that the funding made available under the Recovery Act will be spent for worthy infrastructure projects. Certification is necessary to permit the timely release of funds.

Overview of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. It is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and includes measures to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need.

Implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Transportation is a great enabler of economic growth, the lifeblood of commerce.  It moves people to jobs and goods to the marketplace.  Without strong transportation arteries, economies stagnate.  We will use the transportation funding in the Act to deliver jobs and restore our nation’s economy.  We will emphasize sustainable investment and focus our policies on the people, businesses and communities who use the transportation systems.  And, we will focus on the quality of our environment.  We will invest in jobs to expand transit capacity and modernize transit systems.  We will invest in jobs to allow Amtrak to add and modernize cars and engines and upgrade its tracks.  We will invest in jobs to expand airport capacity and make safety improvements.  We will invest in jobs to build and rehabilitate and make safer roads, highways, bridges and ports.  And we will invest in jobs to launch high-speed rail in America.

DOT Plans and Reports

The Recovery Act and related guidance include several provisions that require DOT to take steps beyond standard practice, including reporting, information collection, budget execution, risk management, and specific action related to award type.

DOT Reporting and Plans will include the following:

• Major Communications
• Formula Block Grant Allocation Reports
• Weekly Updates – starting March 3rd; provides a breakdown of funding, major actions taken to date, and major planned actions
• Monthly Financial Reports – starting May 8th; provides obligations, expenditures, and other financial data by Treasury Account, vendor, and award number, as well as information on allocations of mandatory and entitlement programs by State, county or other appropriate geographical unit
• Agency Transaction Data Feeds – starting May 5th; provides all Recovery Act assistance transactions (primarily grants, loans, and loan guarantees)
• Agency Recovery Plan – no later than May 1st; provides both broad recovery goals and the agency’s coordinating efforts
• Recovery Program Plans – no later than May 1st; provides a separate plan for each Recovery Act program named in the legislation

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It is clear that when it comes to wisdom, religion boldly tells you to follow the ways of the wise. No wonder religion wants you to follow the wise path as law! Because main stream science won’t even define wisdom; and has more or less abandoned the research of wisdom. I think religion is the winner here. Perhaps the Prophets knew that till mankind is able to find out and define wisdom, wisdom ways must be enforced by law! And who can blame religion for this?

As I have said you can have wisdom and become wise through upbringing, through wisdom (brain) education or by grinding down ignorance via experiencing reality/truth over several decades. Or you can learn wisdom behavior and follow the wisdom path. So who can blame religion for making you behave wisely by law! Science and religion; two sides of the same coin or the same coin?

The ultimate goals of science and religion are one and the same: the emancipation of man. They are not only the two sides of the same coin; they are two paths describing the same coin: the ultimate context of human beings in our universe. Religion seeks to teach us the truth and science works to uncover reality. Reality and truth are the same entity. Thus the goals of both are the same. At least as far as the mind sciences are concerned both seek the same goal. Religion seeks to give man wisdom. Science seeks to give man emotional intelligence. At the most developed level of emotional intelligence the brain’s quality is wisdom. So the words may be different but the truth and the reality is the same. Even the paths may be different but the destination is the same; to give man wisdom/emotional intelligence.

Religion says again and again that the word is the bottom line. And the word is what describes the truth. The word is the concept/description of truth. Science says it is the concept/phenomena behind the forces of nature that man must define as close to reality as possible. Which means both are trying to get to the very nature of truth/reality.

In one word religion wants you be good and do good, to know and follow the truth. Science wants nothing but the same. They both want man to actualize his full emotional intelligence/wisdom potential.

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The waiting went on and on as anxious construction industry and state officials watched for months for glimmers of progress in Washington on a bill that they hoped would ease the recession’s tightening grip. On Feb. 17, the long wait ended as President Obama traveled to Denver and signed what he called “the most sweeping economic recovery package in our history,” the $787.2-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It was good news for construction, because the measure contains about $130 billion for highways, buildings and other public works. “How can you not be happy?” asks Stephen E. Sandherr, the Associated General Contractors’ CEO. “This is the most significant investment in infrastructure in my lifetime.”

As industry officials scrutinize the voluminous bill, they are looking for how much money it allocates for key programs and for details on how and when the funds will be disbursed…See the rest of the original story

Here is the part I found most applicable to your industry, 

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