They're cracked, crumbling and rusting -- and you could be driving over them every day.
The Michigan Department of Transportation said more than 400 bridges need to be rehabbed or replaced across the state. TV5's Liz Gelardi discovered that dozens of them can be found right here in Mid-Michgian.MDOT's 20 full-time bridge inspectors, with special training and working in teams of two, filed the 142 page document on Thursday.The report shows the condition scores for any Michigan highway bridge longer than 20 feet. The report lists 4,401 bridges and says 429 of them are "structurally deficient" and 883 of them are functionally obsolete.The report goes on to say that "in March, there were 423 structurally deficient bridges and 901 functionally obsolete bridges.MDOT rates several areas of each bridge on a scale of 9 through 0, with 9 being the best.
The number of structurally deficient brides has increased by six, and functionally obsolete bridges have decreased by 18 as of July 31.
"We inspect the bridges to make sure they are not falling apart," said MDOT spokeswoman Anita Richardson. "Just because a bridge is deemed structurally deficient does not mean it's not safe to travel over. It just means we need to take a closer look."Based on the report, of the 34 bridges inspected in Midland County, three were functionally obsolete and one was structurally deficient.Of the 75 bridges in Bay County that were inspected, 19 were structurally deficient and ten of them were functionally obsolete.Of the 97 bridges inspected in Saginaw County, 12 were functionally obsolete and 42 were structurally deficient.To read MDOT's full report and find out how your county ranked, click
here.
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