Almost 15% of Missouri bridges are rated poor
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
An elevated section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia collapsed Sunday after a tanker truck hauling gasoline caught fire.
The collapse has brought infrastructure to the forefront, particularly highways.
Missouri has the nation's seventh-largest system of roads and bridges but is ranked 45th nationally in funding per mile. The average lifespan of Missouri bridges is 48 years, but many are built to last 50, and 60% of Missouri bridges are past their intended lifespan.
Bryan Hartnagel, state bridge engineer, said in 2023, 804 bridges are rated poor out of the 10,400 bridges in the state system.
This number has dropped from 822 poor condition bridges in 2022, according to Hartnagel.
Bridges are rated on a nine-point scale based on Federal Highway Administration criteria. New bridges are classified at 9, and a closed bridge is classified at 2. Poor bridges carry a rating of 4 or less.
Currently, Boone County has 11 bridges rated at a 4.
And one Boone County overpass over Interstate 70 -- the Sorrels Overpass in Columbia -- was closed for months after it was damaged from being snagged by a boom on a truck in 2021. The work caused intermittent lane closures on I-70 for the demolition of the old bridge and the construction of a new one.
All bridges are inspected every two years, and a bridge with known problems is inspected more frequently.
"They look at all of those things for deterioration, concrete cracking, rusting, section loss, those types of things," said Hartnagel.
The Missouri Department of Transportation will use funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Senate Bill 262 to address the poor condition bridges, according to Hartnagel.
