Study finds more than 1,000 bridges in Wisconsin are structurally deficient

Ariana Baldassano by Jamie Perez

A new study has found that, out of 14,275 bridges in Wisconsin, nearly 1,054 are structurally deficient.

According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, 35 of them are on the interstate highway system.

Those bridges include the westbound bridge of I-90 over County Highway B in Dane County, which more than 22,000 vehicles cross every day.

Many people get nervous when they hear that a bridge is structurally deficient. Bill Oliva, the development chief of the Bureau of Structures, which is part of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, said of the term, “It could be a girder, or the deck of the bridge that would be deteriorated, rusted, corroded or something of that nature.”

When parts of a bridge are not up to standards, that does not mean the bridge will collapse or fall apart tomorrow. But it does mean something on the bridge needs to be repaired.

Oliva said, “All bridges are inspected every two years. When a condition is identified that might move it into structurally deficient, it is inspected on a more frequent basis perhaps yearly or monthly, depending on the assessment of the inspector and the bridge engineers.”

The estimated repairs to the structurally deficient bridges will cost around $1.4 billion. Oliva said, “Wisconsin is below average as far as deficient bridges.”

Oliva said many of the bridges listed as structurally deficient are already being worked on and in the meantime, “all of the bridges are safe.”

You can find a list of deficient bridges in the state here.

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