In the article “These bridges are at risk of disaster. Fixing many of them will take years,” Politico details the report the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducted on the 2024 Key Bridge collapse, which identifies 12 old bridges across the U.S. at risk of similar catastrophes. The author interviewed experts, such as GW Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Sameh Badie, on how this is due to a lack of available funding for safety improvements, and that raising the risk threshold may not be realistic.
Here is an excerpt from the article: “I have a bridge and I ran the risk assessment and it is above the threshold. OK, what can I do? I don’t have the money for me as a state. I don’t have the money to fix the problem,” Badie said. He added that he doesn’t think state transportation departments have the expertise needed to accurately complete risk assessments of these bridges, a process he described as complicated.”
Read the full article on Politico.