Federal regulations require inspection of “every bridge at least once every two years,” but according to federal records from the National Bridge Inventory analyzed by msnbc.com, at least 17,000 bridges failed to get their two-year checkup.
The records include inspections through 2006. The bridges reported not receiving the inspection include 1,411 on interstate highways—which adds up to 3% of freeway bridges.
Every day, an estimated 107 million vehicles cross rivers, streams, highways and railroad tracks on bridges that missed their two-year inspection—about 1,200 trips per second.
One out of every four U.S. bridges is labeled deficient or obsolete. These bridges are not necessarily unsafe, but a deficient bridge needs significant attention, and an obsolete one doesn't meet current design standards. The records show that 2,728 bridges that had already been labeled as deficient or obsolete went more than two years since their inspection.
The majority of the nation's 592,000 vehicular bridges—97%—were inspected within two years, according to the new records.
Four states—Delaware, Georgia, Nevada and Tennessee—reported inspecting every bridge within two years. However, not all states had such perfect records. In Hawaii, for example, at least 46.5% of all bridges went beyond two years.
Although federal regulations stipulate that it is the states’ responsibility to ensure bridges are inspected in a timely manner, a Federal Highway Administration official who wished to remain anonymous said that it has been at least 15 years since that has been enforced, by withholding highway funds for late inspections.
