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Gov.
Blagojevich orders immediate inspections of critical bridges
following tragic Minnesota bridge collapse
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[August 02, 2007]
SPRINGFIELD -- Following the
deadly bridge collapse Wednesday night in Minnesota, Gov. Rod R.
Blagojevich on Thursday directed the Illinois Department of
Transportation and the Illinois Tollway to immediately conduct
additional inspections of critical bridges in Illinois. The governor
also sent letters of condolence to both Minnesota Gov. Tom Pawlenty
and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.
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 "Our hearts and prayers are with the victims and their families of
this terrible disaster in Minnesota," Blagojevich said. "While we
have a rigorous inspection system that ensures the safety of our
bridges in Illinois, a tragedy like this demands that we step up our
efforts and do everything in our power to guarantee the safety of
our bridge network."Bridge inspectors from IDOT and the Illinois
Tollway will be examining bridges that are similar in design to the
Minnesota bridge, are under construction or that carry high volumes
over waterways.
Critical spans, including those crossing the Mississippi River
and other major waterways, will be visually inspected Thursday, with
more detailed inspections in coming days, using high-tech equipment.
Visual inspectors will be looking for general structure alignment
and anything out of the ordinary. The detailed inspections will
assess beam deterioration, determine the condition of the
connections, and identify cracks and anything that is out of
alignment.
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 "IDOT's first and foremost priority is always the safety of our
bridges and roads," said Acting IDOT Secretary Milt Sees. "Our
bridge inspectors are out there every day, using high-tech tools to
assure the safety of almost 8,000 bridges across the state. We can
assure the public that at the governor's direction, IDOT's team will
be taking a detailed look at critical structures across the state."
"Inspection of bridges and infrastructure is part of our ongoing
quality assurance and maintenance efforts at the tollway," said
Brian McPartlin, Illinois Tollway executive director. "In fact,
recently we've completely rebuilt the Markham Yard and the Cal-Sag
bridges on the South Tri-State Tollway to replace aged
infrastructure and expand capacity."
The Illinois Tollway has 545 bridges, with 53 that span lengths
over 20 feet. The tollway has an active and aggressive maintenance
schedule. These bridges are inspected every two years in accordance
with the latest federal and state guidelines. The tollway does not
have any bridges on the system that are similar to the steel truss
bridge in Minnesota. In addition to the biennial inspections, the
tollway also provides full-time inspection of all bridges under
construction.
[Text from file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information] |
