DOT engineer: I-40 bridge in Winston-Salem looks worse than it actually is
Is it possible the I-40 bridge looks worse than it actually is?
WINSTON-SALEM -- Just because the Business Interstate 40 bridge at Liberty Street looks bad doesn't mean the span is unsound, a state Department of Transportation engineer said.
"Most of the problems are facial stuff. It doesn't look good underneath, but it's solid." said Pat Ivey, a DOT division engineer in Winston Salem. He said that the 52-year-old bridge is simply old and wearing out.
A thick crack runs through one of the bridge's concrete supports and chunks are missing from others. Chipped concrete beams have steel bars inside to keep them from pulling apart.
"There's nothing severely wrong with that bridge," said George Teague, a division-maintenance engineer with the N. C. Department of Transportation in Salisbury who oversees bridge maintenance in Forsyth and four surrounding counties.
Cracked supports have been reinforced with steel plates. A new bridge is scheduled to be built in 2013 as a part of a larger renovation project planned for Business 40.
"We know that bridge needs to be replaced," Ivey said. "But it's still safe and we will keep it safe until a new bridge is built."
The Liberty Street bridge has long been considered one of North Carolina's worst bridges, according to list published by AAA Carolinas. It is also one of 70 bridges in Forsyth County and 2,427 bridges statewide that are considered by federal transportation officials as structurally deficient, a term also used to describe the collapsed bridge in Minnesota.
Despite being deemed structurally deficient, Teague, Ivey and other state transportation officials insist that those bridges are safe. "People hear the term structurally deficient and they think 'Oh, my God, it's going to fall down,' but that's not the case," Ivey said. "If a bridge isn't safe it's not going to be open."
Structurally deficient bridges are bridges in poor condition, caused primarily by deterioration in the bridges concrete or steel supports, Teague said. The label is part of a national rating system used in part to help determine when bridges qualify for federal replacement money.
Bridges are graded on a scale from zero to nine, with two or below being critical, three to four poor and five to six fair, Teague said. Bridges rated seven to nine are considered good. Structurally deficient bridges are generally rated a four or below. Bridges are generally considered for replacement when they drop below a four.
The Liberty Street bridge, which carries 476,000 vehicles a week, is a three, mostly because some of its concrete supports have deteriorated. The bridge has been repaired, but it still remains on the structurally deficient list.
Bridges usually remain on the list even after repairs because some damage remains. Like all bridges in the state, engineers give the Liberty Street bridge a visual inspection every year and a special unit of state-bridge inspectors give it an in-depth check every two years, Teague said.
"Inspecting is all they do so they know what they're looking at," Teague said of the inspectors. "We have a good working relationship with the inspection crews. If they find anything they are concerned about they call and tell us. They don't wait for the paperwork to go through."
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