A New York paper's Bridge Safety Inspection Database

... the public has a right to know how the infrastructure is holding up. Last week's bridge collapse in Minneapolis brought to light an issue that not too many people, besides civil engineers, tend to think about -- bridge safety.

The Times-Herald Record in Middletown, N.Y. recently put together a searchable database of more than 5,000 bridges that are located in the Hudson Valley Region. It went live [Aug 6, 2007] and was put together by a five-person team, based on information gathered from the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.

Visitors can search for bridges a variety of ways and learn of that bridge's inspection records. Other features include a look at the area's worst bridges, a discussion with a bridge expert and current updates on New York State’s emergency inspections.

"Now motorists can choose, based on real reporting, to not drive a certain route if they want," [ Yoni Greenbaum ] wrote. "And, perhaps even more importantly, they can use this data to urge their elected officials to do something about the condition of local bridges."

What kinds of interactive databases has your paper put together?

In order to weed out the smaller crossings, such as culverts, the Record analyzed only those spans greater than 50 feet. It then zeroed in on those bridges that inspectors deemed "structurally deficient" and gave a sufficiency rating of 50 or less.

That score — out of a possible 100 — is the threshold to access federal replacement funds. It also happens to be the sufficiency score given to Minneapolis' Interstate 35 bridge before it collapsed last week.

Six of the 17 bridges on the Record's list had sufficiency ratings of less than 25. The Kingston suspension bridge had a rating of 2. Another Ulster County bridge, one that carries County Route 77 over the Rondout in Kerhonkson, scored zero.

Two other bridges — one that carries Guymard Turnpike over the Neversink in the Town of Deerpark and the old stone bridge that crosses the Quassaick Creek in the City of Newburgh — were also flagged for having a "critical" amount of erosion under their footings, a process called "scour."

While a low sufficiency rating suggests a bridge should be repaired or replaced, engineers caution that it doesn't mean a bridge is unsafe. Numerous factors, such as lane width and traffic capacity, go into the rating.

The Brooklyn Bridge, for instance, was also recently given a goose egg by inspectors. Transportation officials make up for a bridge's shortcomings by posting weight limits and restricting heavy truck traffic.