Posted By IISS at 29/10/2009 11:58:44
The poor state of the United States’ infrastructure was under the spotlight again today, after 2,000-kilogramme steel components snapped off the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, forcing the highly trafficked bridge’s closure.
Strong winds caused a 1-metre-wide steel crossbeam and two steel tie rods to snap off the bridge’s eastern span. They fell onto the upper deck, damaging three vehicles and injuring one motorist. More than 280,000 commuters are now having to take alternative routes.
But this is not the only US bridge in less than optimal condition. The I-35 in Minneapolis killed 13 people when it collapsed in August 2007, and the American Society of Civil Engineers has given the nation’s bridges an overall C grade.
In its 2009 Strategic Survey, the IISS crunched some data into a state-by-state map examining the condition of the nation’s bridges. Which have the worst? Where is an accident likely to occur next? Click here