TSP•2 News

KEY ALERT: Support Bridge Inspection Bill
(from ASCE)

Take Action!

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) has proposed legislation that would improve inspection requirements for the nation's bridges and authorize $1 billion in FY 2009 to make repairs to deficient bridges. The bill is expected to be considered by the full House of Representatives this week.

Action Requested

Contact your Representative and ask him or her to support passage of the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act (H.R. 3999).

Background

Chairman Oberstar introduced the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act (H.R. 3999) on October 30, 2007. It was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on October 31, 2007. The bill would require the Federal Highway Administration to:

  • inventory all bridges on federal-aid highways that are bridges over waterways, other topographical barriers, other highways, and railroads;
  • identify each bridge inventoried that is structurally deficient or functionally obsolete;
  • assign a risk-based priority for replacement or rehabilitation of each deficient or obsolete bridge after consideration of safety, serviceability, and essentiality for public use, including the potential impacts to regional and national freight and passenger mobility if the serviceability of the bridge is restricted or diminished; and
  • determine the cost of rehabilitating or replacing each bridge.

The bill also makes recommendations to improve federal oversight of state inspection programs, including establishing minimum requirements for inspection standards. Currently, federal law only sets requirements for top level personnel responsible for carrying out bridge inspections. The bill would require all persons involved in inspections to be trained and certified through a federal or federally approved state training program. In addition, it requires all program managers, as well as those serving as team leaders in certain critical inspections, to be licensed professional engineers.

H.R. 3999 establishes a pilot program to evaluate new monitoring and measurement technologies. The program would make grants to a maximum of five states to monitor up to 15 structurally deficient bridges total using innovative technologies. The bill authorizes $1 billion in FY 2009 to be spent on repair, rehabilitation or replacement of deficient bridges. ASCE strongly supports this bill as an Action Step in our Action Plan for the 110th Congress to help raise the grades on the nation's infrastructure. For more information on the Action Plan visit http://www.asce.org/reportcard

What to Say

Ask your Representative to support passage of the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act (H.R. 3999). Messages with personal and local information will get the most attention from your Representative's office. Please remember to provide specific, local information whenever possible to strengthen your message. If you have knowledge of a bridge in your area or state that needs repair, share this information with your Representative as an example of how this legislation could benefit your area.

Thanks and Follow-Up

Thank you for taking action on one of ASCE's Priority Issues. For continued updates on this and other civil engineering issues in congress, check future issues of This Week in Washington, or read past issues online.