Functionally Absolute: With the Right Programs in Place, FHWA Confident Bridges in the U.S. are Able to Handle Loads

This article provides a history of the National Bridge Inspection Standards, which followed the collapse in 1967 of the Silver Bridge which connected West Virginia and Ohio. The collapse of the I35W Bridge in Minneapolis in 2007 created anxiety again among motorists about the state of the nation’s bridges. In between these two events, other bridges collapsed, and as a result, bridge inspectors refined their bridge inspection programs. The authors describe the National Bridge Inspection Program and what inspectors are looking for, and the meaning of “structurally deficient” and “functionally obsolete.” The authors note that the biggest challenge for the health of a bridge is not weather, but rather, changing traffic volume.