Feds let states delay inspections of bad bridges

In the survey of state transportation departments by msnbc.com, only the District of Columbia and six states — Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Utah — said they were re-inspecting every fracture-critical bridge after the disaster.

The rest of the states re-inspected only the few hundred bridges of the design used in Minneapolis, the continuous steel deck truss, as was recommended (but not required) by the Federal Highway Administration.

Federal regulations already required fracture-critical bridges to receive a special hands-on inspection every two years, with no exemptions allowed. That's in addition to their routine inspections. This was a federal guideline until January 2005, when it became a regulation, which has the legal force of law.

But the National Bridge Inventory from 2006 shows that 1,513 fracture-critical bridges went longer than two years between special inspections. In other words, 8 percent of the 18,566 fracture-critical bridges in the nation were reported as missing their two-year checkup.

Again, several states said that a difficult transition to the Pontis software could be to blame, making fracture-critical bridges appear to be overdue when they were inspected on time.

As the records were submitted, the worst on-time rates of completing the special fracture-critical inspections within two years were in Utah (at least 60 percent past due), Alaska (45 percent), Delaware (38 percent), Maine (34 percent), Colorado (27 percent), California (23 percent), New Hampshire (22 percent) and Texas (21 percent). In addition, 10 percent of federally owned fracture-critical bridges were delinquent.

Federal agencies have many overdue
Federal agencies are among the least-attentive owners of bridges, with 2,940 bridges reported as not receiving a routine inspection within two years. That's 35 percent of 8,332 federal bridges. Only two states — Hawaii and Rhode Island — have worse compliance records.

For example, while Virginia's Department of Transportation has a spotless record of inspecting bridges on time, it can't control the federal bridges within the state, including several on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which the National Park Service reported as being overdue for inspection.

The Federal Highway Administration has little power to persuade other federal agencies to act, the federal official said. Threatening to withhold money wouldn't work, he said, because hardly any federal agencies receive federal highway funds.

The worst record was at the Forest Service, which owns the most federal bridges: 54 percent of its bridges went past two years. The Bureau of Indian Affairs reported 46 percent exceeding the two-year standard. This is surprising, the federal highway official said, because the BIA is the only federal agency that receives highway money.

The administrator's commute
Highway administrator Capka would not agree to an interview to discuss enforcement of bridge regulations. A spokeswoman, Nancy Singer, cited twin investigations of the agency's bridge program by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the federal Government Accountability Office, as well as the continuing investigation of the Minneapolis collapse.

Elise Amendola / AP file The federal highway administrator, J. Richard Capka, is a retired brigadier general in the Army Corps of Engineers. Capka briefly ran the Big Dig road project in Boston before his job was eliminated in 2002. He joined the Federal Highway Administration as a deputy administrator and was nominated by President Bush for the top job in 2006.

Out of curiosity, we checked the bridges on the direct route from Capka's home to his office.

After crossing the Potomac River and the Jefferson Memorial on Interstate 395, Capka would cross the Washington Channel on the Francis Case Memorial Bridge. That bridge was last inspected in January 2005 and was due for re-inspection in January 2007. It wasn't inspected until December, 11 months late, the District of Columbia's transportation department confirmed. More than 160,000 vehicles cross the bridge per day.

The highway administrator would then stay on the Southwest Freeway (I-395) as it crosses over Fourth Street Southwest. That bridge was due for inspection in May 2007, but it didn't get checked until October, five months late. The bridge was being repaired during the summer while it was still open to traffic, so it did receive attention though not a formal inspection, a D.C. official said.

And finally, after switching to I-295 and exiting onto South Capitol Street, Capka would make a left over an overpass at M Street, a block north of the new ballpark for the Washington Nationals. The M Street bridge was due for inspection in July 2007 but was checked in October, three months late.

D.C officials did not respond to several requests for the latest inspection reports for these three bridges. But in their previous inspections, the overall condition of each bridge was scored "equal to present minimum criteria," or 6 out of a possible 9 points.

Backgrounder Documents with this series You can read about bridge safety in these PDF files: U.S. guidelines on delaying bridge inspections Congressional report on federal oversight Legislation to improve inspections, repairs Testimony by DOT inspector general

About one out of every nine bridges in D.C. went beyond the two-year inspection cycle, a small contributor to the 17,000 bridges nationally that the records show weren't examined within two years. D.C. spokesman Erik Linden said inspections were delayed by bridge repairs, by problems with a contract with the inspection company, and by delays in agreements to inspect bridges over railroad tracks.

But the biggest problem is a "tremendous need" for more money to repair and inspect bridges, Linden said. In the nation's capital, 61.3 percent of the bridges are classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, a higher rate than in any state, according to msnbc.com's analysis of the new records. Nationally, 25.0 percent of bridges carry these designations.

Authority unused
When msnbc.com first asked the Federal Highway Administration if it has ever withheld funds from a state or federal agency for failing to inspect bridges on time, the agency said, in a written answer, "In the extreme case, federal-aid funds can be withheld."

Brendan Smialowski for msnbc.com A view of the Washington Monument from under the Francis Case Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., one of the bridges in the district that were late for their inspections. The highway administrator would cross this bridge on his way to work, along with more than 160,000 other vehicles a day.

When asked if it has ever actually used that power, the agency spokeswoman said, "Yes." But she added: "The information would have to be obtained through FOIA," referring to the Freedom of Information Act.

Finally, the anonymous highway administration official acknowledged in the interview:

"To my knowledge, and I've been in the bridge program for 15 years, I don't recall a state reaching the point of losing federal aid funds. This is considered a last resort. We find that most issues can be resolved through discussions with the state.

"I don't want you to think that we're just sitting here on our thumbs."

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