NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The incident in Baltimore has many here questioning the safety of our local bridges and the shipping traffic below. In Tennessee, big barges are not a problem.
Every 4 years the American Society of Civil Engineers they give the state an infrastructure report card, the last report we were graded a "C", but in the bridge department we received a "B".
"53% are in fair conditions, 43% in good condition and 4% in poor condition," Lipscomb University Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Monica Sartain said.
Bridges in the Volunteer State are overseen byTDOT and a poor rating doesn’t mean you can’t drive or walk on the bridge.
"It could mean it’s not operating as well as it could be or needs maintenance, rehabilitation, or a weight limit," Sartain said.
Sartain says what happened in Baltimore is a unique case, because in Tennessee we don’t cargo carriers of that magnitude.
"The Mississippi River can’t accommodate barges or shipping containers of that size, so we’re not worried about something that size," Sartain explained.
Though, there have been similar instances nearby like in 2012 in Kentucky when the Eggner Ferry Bridge was damaged after a ship crashed into it.
Sartain says that’s why it’s important to have engineers design bridges, because there are a lot of acting forces on a bridge.
"You have gravity. You have the weight of the materials that are in the bridge and then you have dynamic forces of the vehicles moving across the bridge and they all act differently and impacts the material differently," Sartain said.
Tennessee bridges can withstand a barge impact and loads in the two million pound range, according to TDOT.
All 20,000 of them are inspected every two years.
"We also use things like diploma or rock bridges which are basically materials that help take the impact of the hit before it hit the pier," Sartain said.
Sartain thinks the state is doing a great job at maintaining the bridges, but with more people moving in it will be important to keep investing in the infrastructure.
"We need to make sure we have enough power, water, and that the streets aren’t clogged and everything is safe, but we need to continue that," Sartain said.
TDOT says what happened in Baltimore was not an inspection or safety issue. It was an accident that no agency can build or engineer for.
The I-40 bridge has the seismic upgrades that would help to absorb a fairly high impact load. The force of a barge strike would be handled, according to TDOT.
Also, the KVB arch bridge in Nashville over the Cumberland River has large rock filled cells that protect the bridge from impacts.
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-Rebecca Schleicher
