Long Island Has 14 Deficient, Possibly Unsafe Bridges, Study Says

You may not realize it, but that bridge you drive over every day may not be in good shape, let alone safe.

That's because many of the bridges in the United States - and 11 percent of the bridges in New York - are classified as structurally deficient. (see list below for Long Island bridges)

According to the National Bridge Inventory Database, structurally deficient bridges have one or more structural defects that require attention. While structurally deficient may not mean the bridge is imminently unsafe, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association believes the public should be notified about the condition of each bridge and that they need repair.

An analysis of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s recently released 2016 National Bridge Inventory data finds that cars, trucks and school buses cross 55,710 structurally compromised bridges across the nation 185 million times daily.

State transportation departments, in turn, have identified 56,000 structurally deficient U.S. bridges, including 1,900 bridges on the Interstate Highway System. Patch has identified 14 bridges on Long Island that were deemed structurally deficient.

According to the report:

• Of the 17,462 bridges in New York, 1,928, or 11 percent, are classified as structurally deficient and possibly unsafe. This means one or more of the key bridge elements, such as the deck, superstructure or substructure, is considered to be in "poor" or worse condition.
• 4,531 bridges, or 26 percent, are classified as functionally obsolete. This means the bridge does not meet design standards in line with current practice.
• 884 bridges are posted for load, which may restrict the size and weight of vehicles crossing the structure.
• Federal investment in New York has supported $17.5 billion for capital improvements on 3,481 bridges between 2005 and 2014.
• Over the past 10 years, 1,290 new bridges have been constructed in the state; 623 have undergone major reconstruction.
• The state has identified needed repairs on 12,386 bridges, which the state estimates will cost $75 billion.

And the structurally deficient bridges are not all the ones that everybody knows about; it could be a bridge you drive over every day.

Here is the list, courtesy of the National Bridge Inventory Database, of the 14 structurally deficient bridges on Long Island, including the bridge's location and the year the bridge was built and/or reconstructed:

Nassau

• Colonial Road Bridge in Great Neck— reconstructed in 1935
• Sands Point Road Bridge in Sands Point— built in 1911
• Bridge on Seawane Drive in Hewlett— built in 1932, reconstructed in 2002
• Ellison Avenue Bridge in Westbury— built in 1941, reconstructed in 1960
• Barstow Road Bridge over LIRR in Great Neck Plaza— built in 1935
• Bridge on Bridge Road in Manhasset— reconstructed in 1953
• Pearl Street Bridge in Oceanside— built in 1932, reconstructed in 1986
• Long Beach Road Bridge over Barnums Island Channel in Oceanside— built in 1955

Suffolk

• Patchogue-Holbrook Road Bridge over LIE Exit 61 in Holbrook— built in 1967
• Bridge on NYS Route 25 at LIE junction in Riverhead— built in 1972
• Bridge on LIE over Carmans River in Yaphank— built in 1970
• Bridge on Cranberry Hole Road over LIRR in East Hampton— reconstructed in 1982
• William Floyd Parkway Bridge over Narrow Bay in Mastic Beach— built in 1959
• Horseblock Road Bridge over Long Island Avenue and LIRR in Medford— built in 1940

There are also hundreds of functionally obsolete bridges on Long Island. Functionally obsolete means a bridge may be perfectly safe or structurally sound, but it is no longer by design functionally adequate for its task, according to the National Bridge Inventory Database

The database says this could mean the bridge doesn't have enough lanes to accommodate the traffic flow, it may be a drawbridge on a congested highway, or it may not have space for emergency shoulders.

According to the database, there are 159 functionally obsolete bridges in Suffolk County and 219 in Nassau County.

The inventory of structurally deficient bridges nationally has declined 0.5 percent since the 2015 report. At that pace, it would take more than two decades to replace or repair all of them, according to ARTBA Chief Economist Alison Premo Black, who conducted the analysis.

Black says the data shows 28 percent of bridges (173,919) are more than 50 years old and have never had any major reconstruction work in that time.

“America’s highway network is woefully underperforming. It is outdated, overused, underfunded and in desperate need of modernization,” Black said in a press release. “State and local transportation departments haven’t been provided the resources to keep pace with the nation’s bridge needs.”

To help ensure public safety, bridge decks and support structures are regularly inspected for deterioration and remedial action, according to the report. They are rated on a scale of zero to nine — with nine meaning the bridge is in “excellent” condition. A bridge is classified as structurally deficient and in need of repair if its overall rating is four or below.

While these bridges may not be imminently unsafe, they are in need of attention.

Other key findings in the ARTBA analysis:

• Iowa (4,968), Pennsylvania (4,506), Oklahoma (3,460), Missouri (3,195), Nebraska (2,361), Illinois (2,243), Kansas (2,151), Mississippi (2,098), Ohio (1,942) and New York (1,928) have the most structurally deficient bridges. The District of Columbia (9), Nevada (31), Delaware (43), Hawaii (64) and Utah (95) have the least number of structurally deficient bridges.

Established in 1902, Washington, D.C.-based ARTBA analyzes the U.S. transportation design and construction industry before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, news media and the general public.

Image via Google Maps of Bridge on Cranberry Hole Road over LIRR in East Hampton, Reporting by Tom Davis