Between the Poles: I-5 bridge classified as Functionally Obsolete in the National Bridge Inventory

Geoff Zeiss

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May 24, 2013

I-5 bridge classified as Functionally Obsolete in the National Bridge Inventory

Transportation for America has put the National Bridge Inventory of 604,474 bridges on line with Google Maps so you can zoom to any area in the U.S. and see which bridges are structurally deficient and the daily traffic on them. In this example I've zoomed to the I-5 bridge near Mt Vernon that collapsed this morning.

It is interesting that Google Maps no longer shows the bridge. The bridge is classified as Functionally Obsolete. It was built in 1955 and handles 70,526 cars a day.

Status

Deck 6 (Equal to present minimum criteria)
Superstructure 5 (Somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is)
Substructure 6 (Equal to present minimum criteria)

It is supposed to be inspected every two years. It was last inspected nearly 3 years ago.

"Functionally obsolete" means that the design of a bridge is not suitable for its current use, such as lack of safety shoulders or the inability to handle current traffic volume, speed, size, or weight.

Posted at 12:15 PM in Aging infrastructure, Road Infrastructure, Transportation infrastructure | Permalink

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Between the Poles

Geoff Zeiss

March 2023

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May 24, 2013

I-5 bridge classified as Functionally Obsolete in the National Bridge Inventory

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