1,837 La. bridges deemed structurally deficient

Louisiana is one of only 10 states with more structurally deficient bridges in 2014 than the prior year, according to John Olivieri of the United States Public Interest Research Group.

The US PIRG is a federation of consumer advocacy groups. It investigated 2014 Federal Highway Administration data on bridges.

It found 187 new bridges have since 2011 been downgraded to structurally deficient, a technical rating used to determine bridges' needs.

The report comes at time when the state is grappling with how to shrink a $12 billion backlog in deferred road and bridge maintenance. And state and federal gas taxes, which provides money for transportation infrastructure, are flat and failing to keep up with inflation.

Eric Kalivoda, Department of Transportation and Development deputy secretary, told the state's House appropriations committee March 24 the department forecasts Louisiana will have serious problems with the condition of its bridges in 10 years.

Kalivoda said the vast majority of those bridges were built in late 50s through the early 1970s. The bridges are reaching their design life and deficiencies will grow substantially.

"We are going to do something about it or we're going to be closing a lot of bridges," he said.

Priorities

Olivieri, the US PIRG's national campaign director for 21st Century Transportation, said hard FHA data highlights the state's spending priorities.

"It's not just the numbers are increasing. It's just that there's such a staggering amount in the first place," he said.

Structurally deficient doesn't mean a bridge is unsafe. It simply means one or more components of a bridge are in need of repairs or replacement.

The Federal Highway Administration will not designate a bridge built or rehabilitated in the last 10 years structurally deficient. The bridge's deck, substructures, superstructures, culvert and retaining walls are inspected. A bad enough flaw in one or more of those pieces can earn it the structurally deficient designation.

Louisiana has nearly 13,000 bridges and 1,837 are structurally deficient bridges. States and parishes own 92 percent of those deficient bridges and the rest belong to cities, parks and railroad companies.

A separate study by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association found the number of structurally deficient bridges nationwide decreased by 2,000 last year to more than 61,000.

The ARTBA ranked Louisiana 14th in the number of structurally deficient bridges and 9th by percentage.

The two groups say the state's bridge infrastructure will become worse without additional investment at the state and federal level.

DOTD Spokeswoman Lauren Lee said the state invested $1.8 billion into bridge repair since January 2008. Similarly, the state spent approximately $7 billion in roadway improvements since the same year.

"The state appears to favor building new and wider highways at the expense of repair and maintenance," Olivieri said in a statement.

Finding the funding

State Sen. Robert Adley (R-Bossier) said Louisiana has a history of spending money on interstates instead of paying to maintain existing roadways and bridges. He and other legislators are trying to figure out how to get dollars — diverted to other areas such as the state police — back for bridges and roads.

Adley says a portion of the state's Transportation Trust Fund ends up in the state police budget. The state has diverted $418 million in transportation dollars to state police since 2005, according to a House budget analyst.

Olivieri said Louisiana should focus on fixing broken bridge infrastructure to ensure they are safe and to prevent repair costs from ballooining in the future.

Structurally deficient bridges "are also more prone to safety issues in the future," he said. "They become more expensive to fix in the future. We would never suggest that it's unsafe."

Kalivoda told the House appropriations committee DOTD would use motor vehicle sales tax revenues and any additional federal transportation dollars, if the state can get it, on the state's bridge program, which is at approximately $100 million per year.

But the program is projected to grow to $500 million a year in coming years, he said.

"We've got a window right now for us to plan," he said to the committee.

Every day, cars, buses and trucks travel across Louisiana's structurally deficient bridges 4.8 million times a day, according to the ARTBA.

The most traveled structurally deficient bridge in Louisiana is in Caddo. Interstate 20 over the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad is crossed 134,300 every day, according to the ARTBA.

"Many of the most heavily traveled bridges are nearly 50 years old. Elected officials can't just sprinkle fairy dust on America's bridge problem and wish it away," Alison Premo Black, an ARTBA economist, said in a statement. "It will take committed investment by legislators at all levels of government."

Inspections, which occur every two years, have resulted in more than $1.8 billion in bridge improvement and replacement projects since 2008, according to DOTD.

Adley wants the bridges in his parish — and across the state — fixed. Funding needs to be secured at both the state and federal levels, he said.

"Every bit of it's necessary for us to grow. You've got to have them both," he said.

Bridges by the numbers

61,000 (more than): Structurally deficient bridges in the United States

1,837: Structurally deficient bridges in the Louisiana

11: Structurally deficient bridges in Louisiana owned by the Federal government

14th: Louisiana's ranking for number of structurally deficient bridges

9th: Louisiana's ranking for percentage of structurally deficient bridges