Time to invest in Virginia’s bridges

Southwest Virginia’s 368 substandard and defective bridges aren’t a safety hazard – at least not yet.

But the state shouldn’t wait for further deterioration and potential peril before investing in these critical infrastructure improvements. Find the funds to attack the problem now.

The Virginia Department of Transportation recently released its bridge report card. Each of the state’s 20,838 bridges and culverts earned a grade; 1,746 – including the 368 subpar spans in this region – didn’t pass.

Transportation officials were quick to calm fears. All of the bridges don’t need immediate replacement, they said.

Chris Blevins, a bridge engineer in VDOT’s Bristol office, put it this way: "Just because a bridge is listed as structurally deficient doesn’t mean it isn’t safe for travel. … If a bridge is unsafe, we close it."

We accept that not all of the subpar bridges pose an immediate threat. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t need improvements to make them safer and sturdier. In the case of some older, obsolete bridges, replacement makes more sense.

And Southwest Virginia seems to have more than its share of needy bridges. Scott County, alone, has 68 deficient bridges – the most of any local entity. Washington County comes in next at 49.

The city of Bristol Virginia has seven, including the Piedmont Avenue bridge over Beaver Creek. Built in 1925, its deck, superstructure and substructure (all three main bridge components) are in poor condition.

The Mary Street bridge over the Norfolk-Southern Railroad tracks earns better marks despite its obvious, visible deterioration. But it too is considered obsolete.

The problem, of course, comes down to money. Virginia hasn’t directed enough of it to road-repair work of any sort, including bridges, for many years. In the past four years, the Bristol area VDOT office has received $40 million to repair and replace bridges throughout Southwest Virginia. That’s just a drop in the bucket.

Across the state, $3.5 billion is needed to bring all the deficient bridges up to standard. Meanwhile, the state is expected to spend a mere $150 million on bridge work and maintenance this year. At this rate, it will take years to finish the work.

The heightened awareness of the importance of bridge maintenance is a result of last summer’s tragic Interstate 35 bridge collapse that killed 13 motorists in Minneapolis. A structural flaw is believed responsible for the collapse.

The collapse prompted re-inspection of a specific type of bridge – called deck-truss – around the nation. Virginia has 11 deck-truss spans; three were found wanting during re-inspections in October. The state shored up two of these bridges and imposed a new weight limit on the third until repairs could be made. Two of the three already were slated for replacement.

In Tennessee, five deck-truss bridges were inspected after the Minneapolis collapse. No major problems were found, but two of the bridges already had been scheduled for replacement. One, the Rotherwood Road Bridge across the North Fork of the Holston River in Kingsport, is currently being replaced.

Tennessee had $180 million to spend on bridge repairs last year – a $30 million increase from the previous year. The state has consistently pumped funding into its roads, and is recognized as a leader among Southern states in highway maintenance.

In contrast, Virginia lawmakers dithered for several years before coming up with a patchwork funding plan to begin critical highway infrastructure work. A powerful desire to avoid a tax increase, no matter the cost, led to the deferred investment.

Now, the bills are coming due. The state needs to increase the funding available for bridge work and other critical infrastructure repairs, before new roads are built. The state should follow Tennessee’s lead and provide at least some sort of an increase in road-repair funds. All of the work cannot be done at once, but the state needs to pick up the pace.

Virginia’s lawmakers are in session. They should budget for bridge repairs now. Don’t wait for a disaster before shoring up the state’s aging spans.