AASHTO opens bridge information Web site
In response to increased public interest following the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis last month, the Washington-based American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has launched a Web site dedicated to providing information on the nation’s bridges. “National attention has been focused on the safety and condition of bridges in every state,” AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley said in a statement. “We have developed this site as an accurate information clearinghouse for the public.”
Information on the site will include: the number of bridges in the federally financed U.S. transportation system; the bridges’ conditions and the work done to improve their conditions; explanations of key terms used by state and federal bridge experts; and federal estimates of the funding needed for bridge work in the U.S. Specific information on an individual state’s bridges is available from the state’s department of transportation and often is listed on the DOT Web site.
AASHTO’s bridge Web site is available at www.dot.state.ia.us, or by clicking “U.S. Bridge Information” on the AASHTO home page, www.transportation.org.