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

24 May 2013 Geoff Zeiss

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.

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss has more than 20 years experience in the geospatial software industry and 15 years experience developing enterprise geospatial solutions for the utilities, communications, and public works industries. His particular interests include the convergence of BIM, CAD, geospatial, and 3D. In recognition of his efforts to evangelize geospatial in vertical industries such as utilities and construction, Geoff received the Geospatial Ambassador Award at Geospatial World Forum 2014. Currently Geoff is Principal at Between the Poles, a thought leadership consulting firm. From 2001 to 2012 Geoff was Director of Utility Industry Program at Autodesk Inc, where he was responsible for thought leadership for the utility industry program. From 1999 to 2001 he was Director of Enterprise Software Development at Autodesk. He received one of ten annual global technology awards in 2004 from Oracle Corporation for technical innovation and leadership in the use of Oracle. Prior to Autodesk Geoff was Director of Product Development at VISION* Solutions. VISION* Solutions is credited with pioneering relational spatial data management, CAD/GIS integration, and long transactions (data versioning) in the utility, communications, and public works industries. Geoff is a frequent speaker at geospatial and utility events around the world including Geospatial World Forum, Where 2.0, MundoGeo Connect (Brazil), Middle East Spatial Geospatial Forum, India Geospatial Forum, Location Intelligence, Asia Geospatial Forum, and GITA events in US, Japan and Australia. Geoff received Speaker Excellence Awards at GITA 2007-2009.

View article by Geoff Zeiss

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