We don't realize how many bridges we cross in our travels each day, so hearing that there are more than 5,000 in Massachusetts and that more than 500 of them are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete sounds crazy -- and scary.The focus on bridges is, of course, because of the disaster in Minneapolis. It has sparked all kinds of coverage in the media, including information I found at the MSNBC web site, which lists bridges that carry more than 10,000 vehicles a day that have been found deficient or obsolete by inspectors. The list is arranged by state and divided by county, and I went through and tried to determine bridges in East Boston that are there. Because of the limited information and the shorthand used to display it, figuring out exactly what the entries are saying is not always clear, but it appears to me that there are 13 bridges in Eastie on the list.
All but one of those bridges is classified as functionally obsolete, which means that some aspect of its construction isn't up to modern standards and older design features make it unsuitable to carry the traffic it's currently carrying. One of the easiest structures for me to identify on the list is the bridge that carries vehicles between Eastie and Winthrop. That bridge was rated 41.3 out of 100. Several of the entries seem to refer to the ramps that carry Route 1A above the neighborhood. Other listings are more difficult to decipher.
The bridge on the list that is classified as deficient and may be partly in East Boston is one that spans the "Chelsea River" and is on the "Chelsea line," according to the document. That could be either the Meridian Street (or McArdle) Bridge or the Chelsea Street Bridge. However, it may indicate a different bridge. I'm not sure. The rating for whatever bridge that might be is a frighteningly low 2.0, which seems like it must be a typo.
Overall there appear to be more than 100 bridges on the list that are located in Boston (although it does look like there are times when the same bridge is listed more than once).
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This essay also appeared in the East Boston Times-Free Press.
Bridge Collapse: A Wake-up Call for All
by Mary Berninger
This week’s tragic event in Minneapolis, the collapse of a major highway bridge in that city, should be a clarion call for us all to become active participants in community and government processes.
Traveling on the roads, highways and bridges that connect us to personal, employment and business activities is such an integral part of our daily existence that seldom do we stop to contemplate the safety of that infrastructure. The death of Milena DelValle in the I-90 tunnel last year and the deaths of those in Minneapolis have forced us to examine a system that we had a right to take for granted, but the assumption of safety may never again be something that is guaranteed.
Most citizens are not engineers, city planners or architects, so most put an almost blind faith into the presumption that roads, bridges and buildings are being structured in such a way that would ensure safety for users. Our tax dollars are funneled to government agencies entrusted with the public safety and through those agencies to large and small businesses that implement the agencies’ plans. Again, we have a right to assume that those agencies are fulfilling their missions of ensuring the public good in return for public dollars. Maybe that is naive in its simplicity, but that is the assumption that has come to haunt all of us.
Do we, as citizens, need to start perusing each and every inspection report for ourselves when it comes to the transportation infrastructure? Perhaps, but that’s never going to happen -- even if average citizens could access that information. Do we all need to be vigilant in reporting any and all crumbling concrete or rusting steel supports on bridges? Perhaps, but that seems like a daunting task for people just trying to get through the business of daily living. Or, do we have a right to assume that those with the responsibility to fulfill those duties are implementing a safety check schedule for the entire infrastructure that is timely and credible?
Finding deficiencies in roads and bridges must lead to repairs, not to deferred repairs. Yes, that will cost money and we must be prepared to shoulder the costs for repairs. Make no mistake, those bills are coming and we are all going to gasp and say, how did this happen? We know how it happened: the system aged, was overused as it deteriorated, and those in charge mistakenly thought there was enough time to wait for the funds to pay for the repairs.
How will we pay for the repairs? Now may be the time to tell our friends around the world, who are used to our bottomless well of generosity, that we have to attend to our own immediate needs at the present time. We may have to defer financial aid to others. That is just a reality we, and our allies, must be prepared to face.
Safety is paramount and that is unequivocal for a problem of such magnitude. Let’s just get the job done before another person is killed.
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