Crappy bridges - We're Number One!! Woohoo!!!

[Bunny]

More than 25 percent of bridges in Pennsylvania are structurally deficient, giving the state both the highest percentage and greatest number of deficient bridges in the U.S., according to a new report.

According to the report, 5,906 of Pennsylvania's 22,271 bridges (26.5 percent) are structurally deficient, meaning at least one of three components -- the superstructure, substructure or deck -- was rated "poor" by inspectors. The next-closest state was Oklahoma at 22 percent.

Locally, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette analysis of state bridge data in August found that in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties, 1,246 of the 4,284 bridges, or 29 percent, were rated structurally deficient.

But the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, in last year's update of the region's four-year Transportation Improvement Program, slashed anticipated road and bridge spending by 32 percent, and local officials have expressed concern that reduced funding could reverse steady progress made on bridge repairs in recent years.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11089/1135767-147.stm?cmpid=news.xml#ixzz1I6cj7EoP

Isn't it nice that we're first in the nation in bad bridges, AND the budget for upgrades has been slashed? Makes perfect sense! :eyes:

[Divernan]

1. If we just had that $24 MILLION which Corbett's PennDot Secy. blew on I-80 fiasco

we could replace/repair a lot of those bridges.
Reposting below from an earlier thread:

Edited on Sun Mar-20-11 11:02 AM by Divernan
Yes, fellow DUers, the Pennsylvania Turnpike's very own Commissioner, Barry J. Schoch was the Project Manager on the failed I-80 project, and the private company of which he was vice-president received TWENTY TWO MILLION DOLLARS of the total $24 million dollars thrown down the corporate toilet on this project. That's PENNSYLVANIA TAXPAYERS' DOLLARS!
You probably recognized Schoch's name - Corbett picked the guy who screwed up and cost PA taxpayers $22 Millon to be secretary of PennDOT.

www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/01/gov-elect_t...

"The PennDOT secretary nominee will be Barry J. Schoch of Camp Hill, a vice president at McCormick Taylor Inc. who serves as transportation engineering manager of its Harrisburg office. He played a top role in developing the state's failed proposal to add tolls to Interstate 80."

http://paindependent.com/2010/05/turnpike-spent-24-mill... /

May 28, 2010 | By Eric Boehm | Posted in Investigations
Turnpike Spent $24 Million on Failed I-80 Tolling Project

According to a list of expenses obtained from the Turnpike Commission, the vast majority of the I-80 project’s price tag was paid to McCormick Taylor, a Harrisburg-based engineering and planning firm which has worked with the Turnpike on numerous projects.
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Barry J. Schoch, vice president of McCormick Taylor and the I-80 project manager said the federal government’s request for more information on the tolling plan required “substantial engineering work,” and questioned why the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) had not stopped the process earlier, if the concept of rental payments was the real problem all along.
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How was the money spent?

McCormick Taylor completed more than $22 million worth of engineering and planning work on I-80 for the Turnpike Commission, including engineering work, traffic studies, and environmental impact assessments. Other firms were contracted for aerial mapping of I-80, and for specific studies on toll booth locations.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Idiots, we are in the hands of the most inept, if not evil, idiots.

I am still in shock that Corbett won, and I cannot even comprehend all of the people he is putting into these positions. He isn't even trying.

[wisteria]

3. And, you know Corbett could care less. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership

will provide no money to repair and bring these bridges up to standard-they will just wait until someone gets hurt and the public is outraged then they will campaign on making the upgrades.