WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather, and Sports |Report shows Tenn. bridges above average

Report shows Tenn. bridges above average

It has been almost one year since a bridge spanning the Mississippi River collapsed in Minneapolis.

In the days following the collapse transportation officials across the country asked, "Could it happen here?" and embarked on ambitious inspections and repairs.

Monday, Tennessee transportation leaders responded to a just-released national report on the safety of bridges in each state.

Tennessee's chief road engineer said while the state did "better than most", there is still "work to be done."

"There are no bridges open to traffic that are in trouble right now," said Paul Degges.  "All of the bridges are safe."

The report, called "Bridging the Gap", said Tennessee has the tenth most bridges among the 50 states, but the sixth fewest amount of bridge problems.  

So did last year's disaster Tennessee change the way Tennessee inspects bridges?

When inspecting bridges, federal highway officials recommend looking at what's called "gusset plates" or plates of steel that bolt truss members together.

While the federal government is making some recommendations about bridge safety based on preliminary reports from the Minneapolis collapse, the federal government is reducing federal funding.

In Tennessee that number is $237 million for the last two years.

State Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely stressed those federal funding cuts from previous yearly levels have not affected money for bridge inspections.

He said, "We think it's so important that these bridges be maintained that we have got to continue to fund them at a higher level even though we are not starting new projects."

Click HERE to view the complete report, "Bridging the Gap."