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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-01-24 Euless ArticlesDISTRIBUTED TO: - DlSTRIBl!TED TO: PAGE.3 OF-5 MA YOR CITY CNCL CITY ATTNY SUTTER MCKA~IIE BROWN YOUNG ANIMAL CNT .HcDONALD COLLINS W. RHODES GETCHELL LIBRARY ADMIN LIBRARY REF HARTSELL DA TE OF ARTICLE NEWSPAPER FWSTD.4TE DISTRIBUTED I /J tf /1;;;' /1/0-/1.;( "That's the life cycle of our highway system," Transportation Department spokeswoman Jodi Hodges said. "It's a constant battle." I Including state, federal and other funds, Texas spent $736.7 million on highway bridges in 2010 --$385.3 f million for new construction, $320.4 million for replacement or rehab and $31 million for maintenance-­ according to the department's annual bridge report. Those figures include nearly $44.2 million worth of bridge projects let in Tarrant County during 2010. Of that, $29.9 million was for new bridges, $10.5 million for bridge replacement, $2.8 million for rehab, $787,000 for maintenance and $141,000 for widening, according to the Transportation Department. For advocates of better bridge upkeep in Texas and across the U.S., things are moving far too slowly. The Minneapolis tragedy, they said, hasn't served as much of a wake-up call at all. 'We're still moving at the same snail's pace," said Andrew Herrmann, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a Reston, Va.-based group that advocates for better upkeep of bridges. Often, he said, the structures are built to last 50 years, but the average age of bridges in the U.S. is now 43 years and climbing. Building new bridges While aging bridges are crumbling, growing communities in Dallas-Fort Worth are spending tens of millions of dollars on new bridges, often a short distance from those that most need the repairs. In downtown Fort Worth, just about a mile northeast of the aging West Seventh Street bridge, local and federal officials have set aside about $62.8 million to build two new bridges as part of the massive Trinity Uptown redevelopment. That project includes rechanneling the Trinity River and overhauling the near north side into what supporters say will be a modern, mixed-use neighborhood. Meanwhile, the budget to improve the historical North Main Street bridge near the Tarrant County , Courthouse is more austere. About $2.8 million has been budgeted, mostly to improve its deck --and that! yearlong work is nearly complete. The bridge, built in 1914, scored a 33.8 on its most recent inspection. The bridge will be a major gateway to the Trinity Uptown area. In Northeast Tarrant County, a $2.5 billion expansion of Loop 820 and Texas 121/183 has been turned over to a private developer, North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners. That project includes a makeover of at least 15 underpasses and overpasses. ~. But for now, the project doesn't include reconstruction of the Main Street bridge in Euless, which is about a mile to the east and carries 14,800 vehicles per day. ­ That bridge, built in 1970, is functionally obsolete and has only a 42.2 sufficiency rating. During a 2010 visit, inspectors found longitudinal cracking on the bottom side of the bridge slab and leaching --or intrusion of water into the bridge material. State transportation officials say they hope the Euless bridge can be replaced as part of a future phase of the North Tarrant Express project, although it is not funded. They also hope to someday include replacement of the Baker Boulevard/Hurst Boulevard bridge over Northeast Loop 820 in the North Tarrant Express project --but it, too, is unfunded. That bridge often shakes as truck traffic rumbles by. DISTRIBUTED TO: PAGE Lj OF":;­-­ ,U4 YOR CITY CNCL CITY ATTNY SUTTER IHCKAMIE BROWN YOUNG ANIMAL CNT JlcDONALD COLLINS W. RHODES GETCHELL LIBRARY ADMIN LIBRARY REF HARTSELL DATE DISTRIBUTED I / ~tj / I ~ DATEOFARTICLE I (IS / /:J NEWSPAPER__....::Fc..:.W.!.!:~:.:..T In Arlington, the state recently completed $166 million worth of repairs to three bridges near Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark. Two of the bridges --Center Street and Legends Way/Baird Farm Road -­ are new, and the Collins Street bridge was rebuilt. But just two miles west of the Three Bridges Project, the Fielder Road overpass over Interstate 30 dropped to a score of 63.6 on its most recent inspection in the 2010 National Bridge Inventory, down from 81.2 in 2007. The lower score was due in part to a substandard rating of its deck. "You can't get a politician excited about cutting a ribbon on an old bridge." Herrmann said. "But build a new one and everyone wants to be in the picture." He said the nation's lack of adequate transportation, including bridges. cost businesses and residents $130 billion last year. Many bridge repair projects missed out on a chance for stimulus funding in recent years because they didn't meet the federal requirement that they be "shovel ready" --in other words, the paperwork wasn't in order that would have allowed work to begin immediately. So instead, the Recovery Act work went to newer bridges that were ready to be built. Texas' record Despite Texas' problems, the state's bridges are third best in the nation in terms of safety. according to a national report released in March, "The Fix We're in For: The State of Our Nation's Bridges." The report. by Transportation for America, a campaign launched by business, environmental and other groups seeking a cohesive transportation policy, found that Texas had 1,551 structurally deficient bridges out of 51,277 total structures. The state now has 51,557 bridges, according to updated figures in its 2010 annual bridge report, including 1,553 that are structurally deficient --still the third-best mark in the U.S. In 2001, the Texas Transportation Commission set a goal of improving bridge conditions within 10 years. At that time, 70 percent of bridges were in good or better condition, but the goal was to achieve 80 percent by 2011 --and that goal was met a year ahead of schedule, said Keith Ramsey, director of field operations in the Transportation Department's bridge division. "Overall, bridge conditions are getting better," Ramsey said. He added that the progress comes as Texas is dealing with explosive population growth and receiving a smaller share of federal dollars. State officials say they won't hesitate to close a bridge considered unsafe. In 2009, the West Lancaster Avenue bridge over the Trinity River near downtown Fort Worth was shut down for several months after inspectors found deterioration on bearings that connected the bridge to the support structure. The work cost $603,000. The bridge, built in 1938-39, was last rehabilitated in 1999. Last year, a four-lane stretch of Interstate 30 in east Fort Worth was reduced to two lanes at the North Beach Street bridge after a tanker fire explosion melted some of the support structure. The Transportation Department issued an emergency contract and repaired the damage in about two months, at a cost of $677,000. But many other substandard bridges remain open, while transportation officials playa waiting game -­ constantly monitoring problem areas until funding becomes available to correct them. - DISTRIBUTED TO: PAGE~OF .5:... I"/A YOR CITY CNCL CITY A TTNY SUTTER MCKAMIE BROWN YOUNG ANIMAL CNT McDONALD COLLINS W. RHODES GETCHELL L1BRARYADMIN LIBRARY REF HARTSELL DA TE DISTRIBUTED I / a4-/ I ;;( DATE OF ARTICLE /1/5 II ~ NEWSPAPER____~F~W.~~~T ----~--~~------ Under the West Seventh Street bridge, Buckner and three other bridge inspectors spent about two hours one recent morning poring over the structure's flawed features. For example, under an arch spanning Forest Park Boulevard, Buckner greeted a giant vertical crack running nearly the length of a bridge column like an old acquaintance. The crack was about a half-inch wide and several feet long. "It's wider than some of the others we've seen, although we've seen it for years. It's fairly stable," he said. "It's been at roughly that width for a good number of years." Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796 PAGE~OF /DISTRIBlITED TO: SUTTER MCKAMIE BROWN YOUNGMAYOR C1TYCNCL C1TYATTNY GETCHELL LlBRARYADMIN LIBRARY REF,l/cDO:VALD COLLINS W. RHODES DATE DISTRIBUTED 1/at./-/';;( DATE OF ARTICLE I!If!I a.