Pushes for Funding to Maintain, Replace Pennsylvania's Aging Bridges

As part of a statewide tour to highlight Pennsylvania's bridge needs and Governor Edward G. Rendell's proposed funding solutions, state Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler, P.E., today visited a 44-year-old bridge that carries nearly 10,000 vehicles each day over Walnut Creek in Millcreek Township, Erie County.

The bridge, which carries Sterrettania Road over the creek, is one of thousands statewide that are considered by PennDOT to be structurally deficient, but funding to replace the span is not available.

"This important link is deteriorated to the point that heavy blocks of wood were added to help provide additional support," Biehler said. "While this fix is safe, it's all too clear that the bridge needs to be replaced. But the $5 million to do so is not available and the reality is that far too many bridges face similar problems all across the state."

PennDOT has the bridge on an accelerated inspection cycle, once every year instead of every two years.

In 2006, PennDOT invested an unprecedented $558 million in 867 bridge projects statewide with $133 million being spent on bridge preservation and the remaining $425 million devoted to rehabilitating and replacing structurally deficient bridges, including ones damaged by floods. Despite this record level of investment, Pennsylvania has the largest number of structurally deficient bridges in the nation -- nearly 6,000 statewide.

In the six-county, PennDOT District 1 area encompassing the counties of Crawford, Erie, Forest, Mercer, Venango and Warren, 375 of the 2,051 bridges on the state-maintained system are classified as structurally deficient. There are 48 weight-restricted bridges and four closed bridges in the district. A structurally deficient bridge is safe, but in need of costly repairs or replacement to bring it to current standards. Many bridges that are closed or weight-restricted today were originally classified as being structurally deficient.

"The time to commit to a transportation funding strategy is now; we can't wait any longer," Biehler said. "Residents right here in Erie County and all across Pennsylvania deserve to have the best multi-modal transportation system available and the funding needed to support it -- it's about improving our quality of life and keeping Pennsylvania connected to the global economy."

More information about Pennsylvania's transportation funding crisis is available online at http://www.rideonpa.org/

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation