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  Architecture & Engineering

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September 16, 2013

Many U.S. bridges are old and risky

  • 65,605 bridges are classified as “structurally deficient” and 20,808 are “fracture critical.” Of those, 7,795 are both.
    • By JOAN LOWY
    Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — Motorists coming off the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge into Washington are treated to a postcard-perfect view of the U.S. Capitol. The bridge itself, however, is about as ugly as it gets: The steel underpinnings have thinned since the structure was built in 1950, and the span is pocked with rust and crumbling concrete.

    District of Columbia officials were so worried about a catastrophic failure that they shored up the horizontal beams to prevent the bridge from falling into the Anacostia River.


     
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