Politics & Government
How Safe Are Roseville's Bridges?
More than 24 percent of bridges in Placer County are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, experts say.
One in nine California bridges are structurally deficient, including 11 percent of those in Placer County, according to a national report card on American infrastructure.
Commuters and travelers are thinking more about the possible risks of crossing of America's aging bridges following the collapse of the I-5 bridge in Washington State last week.
In California, 4,178 out of 24,812 total bridges were deemed functionally obsolete according to the 2013 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, including 49 in Placer County. "Functionally obsolete" indicates the bridge's configuration fails to meet current demands for lane width, shoulder width or "doesn’t have enough vertical clearance for large trucks to pass under, causing repeat hits and damage to the bridge," according to transportation officials.
Another 42 of Placer County's 374 bridges were classified as structurally deficient, meaning a certain component needs repair or replacement. A bridge deemed structurally deficient is not necessarily in danger of collapse, according to transportation officials. There are 2,978 structurally deficient bridges in the state.
A May 2 database released by Caltrans lists all the bridges in the county and notes which ones have structural deficiencies or are considered obsolete.
Functionally obsolete bridges in Roseville:
- On Industrial Avenue near Justice Center Drive
- On Sierra Boulevard near Lincoln and Roseville streets
- At Vernon Street and Washington Boulevard
- At Atlantic Street and Washington Boulevard
- At Pacific Street and Washington Boulevard
- At Industrial Avenue and Blue Oaks Boulevard
- Near the Antelope Creek Trail and Roseville Parkway
"If a bridge isn't safe to drive on, it'll be closed to traffic," Barrineau explained in this Huffington Post story. "If a bridge is rated as deficient, it just means that it has to be inspected on a much more regular basis due to risks coming from structural damage or regular wear and tear. Functionally obsolete bridges just aren't built to current standards."
It's important to note that the I-5 bridget that collapsed in Washington State was not structurally deficient. Rather, the bridge was functionally obsolete. Built in 1955, it was designed to be "fracture critical" meaning the entire structure can fail in the event of serious impact. There are about 18,000 similarly-designed spans in the U.S., including the Minneapolis I-35W bridge that spontaneously crumbled in 2007.
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