Dateline: August 23, 2007

TxDOT list four local deficient bridges

Four bridges in Donley County are on a list released last week of 2,024 Texas bridges rated as structurally deficient by the Texas Department of Transportation.

One of those bridges has already been replaced, a second is scheduled for replacement, and the other two belong to the City of Clarendon, which currently has no plans for them.

TxDOT officials are quick to note the rating does not mean the bridge is dangerous.

“It’s not that it’s an unsafe bridge; it’s that the bridge is damaged or deficient in some way,” TxDOT Childress District spokeswoman Barbara Seal said.

The term “structurally deficient” is a term used by the Federal Highway Administration to classify and prioritize bridges for federal funding. Structurally deficient bridges receive priority for limited rehabilitation on replacement funds from the federal government. 

“If a bridge is structurally deficient, we will run a structural analysis and will load restrict it to a safe operating capacity,” Seal said. “If the bridge is not safe, we will close or replace it.”

Structurally deficient bridges in Donley County include the bridge over Rock Creek 2.54 miles south of the Gray County line on FM 291; the East Lelia Lake Creek Bridge located 1.1 miles west of FM 1260 on CR X; Rosenfield Street Bridge in north Clarendon and Seventh Street Bridge by City Park.

The Lelia Lake Creek Bridge has already been replaced by a low-water crossing, Seal said, and the bridge itself is planned for removal.

Seal also said the bid will be let September 6 to replace the Rock Creek Bridge on FM 291.

City Superintendent Jim Roberts said city officials have talked about the Rosenfield and Seventh Street bridges over the years, but nothing has been done about them.

“We’ll just have to get them looked at,” Roberts said.

Bridges like the one over Lelia Lake Creek and on Seventh and Rosenfield Streets are categorized as “off system.” They are maintained by the county or city rather than by the state. “Off system” bridges can qualify for TxDOT funds for repairs or replacement with the state paying 90 percent of the cost, and the local government contributing ten percent, which can be in-kind work, Seal said.

Of the state’s bridges classified as “structurally deficient,” 445 are on the state highway system and 1,579 are off-system structures.  282 bridges classified as structurally deficient are currently under contract to be rehabilitated or replaced. 

TxDOT says its aggressive program to inspect all 50,000 of the state’s bridges and rehabilitate and replace bridges that require improvement is producing results.  In 2002, Texas was home to 2,928 structurally deficient bridges.  The current figure is a 31 percent reduction in structurally deficient bridges.

The challenge for Texas is that as the state’s transportation system ages, demand is increasing. TxDOT staff reported in June that more than $6 billion would need to be transferred from new construction to routine maintenance to ensure the safety and quality of the state’s highway system over the next five years.