Five years after dozens of the county’s bridges were found to have problems, Adams County continues to focus on repairing and replacing them — including work that began today on a bridge on Marian Road.
In 2008, 47 of the county’s 198 bridges — 24 percent — were deemed functionally obsolete or structurally deficient by the Nebraska Department of Roads. This led to the closure of 13 bridges, 12 of which are under the county’s jurisdiction.
The nationwide focus on unsafe bridges stemmed from a 2007 interstate bridge collapse in Minneapolis that killed 13 people and injured more than 100.
A report by TRIP, a national transportation research group, found that bad bridges were a problem throughout the state with 19 percent of its rural bridges labeled unsafe structures — the sixth highest percentage in the nation.
The Adams County Roads Department is working hard to make sure its bridges do not remain a part of that percentage, said Adams County Highway Superintendent Dawn Miller.
“Adams County is making good progress,” she said.
To read more, see Monday's Hastings Tribune or the Tribune e-edition.>>>
