North Carolina to Inspect Safety of Its Substandard Bridges As Death Toll in Minneapolis Bridge Collapse Rises to Five
North Carolina’s Department of Transportation has started looking at its substandard bridges following the deadly highway bridge collapse in Minnesota. A report on the bridges’ safety is expected to be completed by the time the Board of Transportation meets in September.
Oregon Inlet’s Herbert C. Bonner Bridge is considered the bridge with the most safety issues in North Carolina, although the bridge is still considered safe for use. A number of repairs have been recommended to keep it sound for travelers and a replacement bridge is scheduled to be constructed in 2013.
On Thursday, the state’s Transportation Department inspected the bridge in Gaston County that carries N.C. Highway 273 over a canal in Duke Power. It is the only bridge in North Carolina that has a similar design to the bridge that fell in Minneapolis.
The Federal Highway Administration had previously ranked the collapsed bridge in Minnesota as “structurally deficient.” In 2006, 2,256 North Carolina bridges were rated “structurally deficient” while 2,816 were deemed “functionally obsolete.” There are over 17,000 bridges in the state.
In Minneapolis, the death toll is now up to five bodies, although that number is expected to rise. Divers searching the Mississippi River on Thursday discovered 11 vehicles in its water. At least 79 people were injured in Wednesday’s collapse of the eight-lane bridge.
If it can be proven that state or federal departments or any officials or anyone else acted negligently or carelessly when maintaining or managing the Minneapolis bridge and were directly or indirectly responsible for the collapse, any of these parties might be held liable for the personal injuries and wrongful deaths that have been sustained by the victims of the bridge disaster.
Some recent bridge tragedies in North Carolina (as reported by the News & Observer):
1984: In Burnsville, a single-lane bridge over the Toe River between Yancy and Mitchell Counties collapses when an overloaded tractor-trailer crosses it. No one is seriously injured.
1987: Skeen’s Mill Bridge, a 100-foot-long covered bridge, collapses near Asheville into the Uwharrie River.
2000: A pedestrian bridge spanning U.S. Highway 29 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord collapses, injuring more than 100 people. Officials blame badly corroded cables for the collapse but are unsure of how the cables became rusted.
2001: A one-lane suspension bridge near Asheville collapses under a large truck hauling magazines. No one is injured.
2004: Three vehicles are swept away by raging currents after uprooted trees wipe out a two-lane bridge over Beaver Dam Creek near Boiling Springs. One man is killed. Officials note that 10 to 12 bridges were similarly washed out during flooding from the season’s hurricanes and heavy rains in the N.C. mountains.
Five now confirmed killed in bridge collapse, CNN.com, August 3, 2007
North Carolina to study ‘substandard’ bridges’ safety, Hampton Roads.com, August 3, 2007
North Carolina bridge incidents, News Observer, August 2, 2007
Related Web Resources:
