• Study gets new look after Minneapolis disaster

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Of the 215 bridges in Columbus County, 80 spans – 37.2 percent – are in need of major work, according to a study by a national motor club.

AAA Carolina annually releases a study rating the bridges in North and South Carolina. The study takes into account age, materials and traffic counts, and in extreme cases the auto club sends out engineers to further examine suspect bridges.

The designation as worst bridge in the state went to the I-40 Business bridge crossing State Road 4315 in Forsythe County. The 52-year-old bridge carries 68,000 vehicles per day, and is regularly cited by the state Department of Transportation as a bridge with critical needs. It is scheduled for replacement in 2013.

The two worst bridges in Columbus County, according to AAA, are in Whiteville. The bridge that carries U.S. 701/N.C. 130 Business across Soules Swamp came in at number 416. Its neighbor, the U.S. 701 Bypass bridge over the railroad right of way, is Number 553 on the list. The bridges are 54 years old, and carry upwards of 17,000 vehicles per day.

Jayne Cannon of AAA Carolinas cautioned that while the report seems worrisome, North Carolina has taken some big steps in recent years to improve its bridge infrastructure.

“None of the bridges on our list are going to fall over in the next few days,” she said. “A substandard bridge is just that – substandard. It isn’t getting ready to collapse.”

The study reviews more than 13,000 bridges statewide, and includes some routes that are served by large culverts that were sufficient when installed, but have deteriorated as traffic counts have increased.

Statewide, 30.2 percent of all bridges are considered substandard by AAA. Columbus County came in seven points above the state average in the survey. North Carolina has the 11th worst percentage of substandard bridges in the country, and the worst in the southern region, but the state maintains twice as many bridges as Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, and nearly 50 percent more than Virginia.

North Carolina’s routine bridge maintenance needs are estimated at $200 million annually, but the state budgets only $55 million. An additional $70 million in bridge replacement money was added to the N.C. Moving Ahead program for this year. The $35 million remaining in the program is expected to be spent during this calendar year. The state replaced 98 substandard bridges last year, and built a total of 113.

To replace all of the state’s substandard or deficient bridges would cost in excess of $2.5 billion.

Substandard bridges can fall into two further categories, structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

According to AAA, a structurally deficient bridge is defined as being in relatively poor physical condition and/or inadequate to handle traffic demands.

Functionally obsolete bridges have inadequate capacity for current traffic volume. States inspect bridges biannually to determine their condition.

To qualify for federal aid replacement funds, a bridge must score under 50 on a 100-point scale.

AAA releases the study every year as an aid to motorists and to highlight the need for improvements in bridge repairs nationally. The study got extra attention this year due to the Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed at least seven people. That collapse is being blamed on insufficient maintenance and poor materials.