honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, July 9, 2003

43 percent of Island bridges found substandard

Advertiser Staff and News Services

The number of substandard bridges in Hawai'i declined in the past decade, but it still tops the national average, according to federal statistics.

A new Associated Press analysis of Federal Highway Administration statistics shows that 522 of Hawai'i bridges were either structurally deficient or otherwise failed to meet federal standards last year.

That's 43.5 percent of Hawai'i's 1,200 highway bridges. While this is less than 10 years ago, when more than half the bridges were substandard, the figure far exceeds the national average of 28 percent.

This year's Transportation Department budget identified bridges as a top priority, and the department recently sought construction bids to repair four bridges, including those at Ma'ili'ili, Waimea, Hau'ula and Waipuhi streams.

The state hopes to repair or replace about 15 bridges in the next five years, said Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

Listing a bridge as deficient or obsolete does not mean it is unsafe, officials said. It could mean the bridge does not meet the standards required of new bridge construction.

"For instance, we have a lot of one-lane bridges around the state that are safe, but no matter what we do, unless we widen them, they'd still be on the list," Ishikawa said.

Other bridges, constructed as long as 80 years ago, cross streams that are subject to flash flooding and often do not meet new highway standards for crash strength, width, weight or seismic loads.

Nationwide, the number of deficient bridges declined 18 percent during the decade, from 199,090 in 1992 to 163,010 last year. The decrease coincided with passage of two federal transportation bills that earmarked $36.5 billion for repairs beginning in 1992, more than double the $15.3 billion allocated in the previous decade.