Bridge inspections falling behind

SPRINGFIELD -- The Department of Transportation has fallen down on its job inspecting bridges, according to Illinois' top auditor.

In a report released Thursday, Auditor General Bill Holland said IDOT and local governments were "delinquent" in performing inspections on 1,752 bridges throughout the state between the summer of 2006 and June 2007.

The auditor general recommended the department improve its inspection data, saying, "Data accuracy is critical in monitoring the status of bridges." The audit came out nine months after the collapse of a Minneapolis bridge last summer that killed 13 people and injured more than 100. Just after the collapse, Gov. Rod Blagojevich ordered IDOT to examine structures with similar design to Minnesota's I-35 bridge.

Department spokesman Mike Claffey said Illinois ranks sixth in the nation for good bridge conditions. He called bridges slipping through the cracks of inspection "an accident."

"We care tremendously about our bridges," he said. "It's a top priority for us to make sure our bridges are safe for us to use."

Claffey noted that only 108 bridges reported late for inspections fell under IDOT jurisdiction. He said all of these bridges were subsequently checked and declared safe. The rest of the bridges reported late were under local agencies' jurisdiction.

Claffey blamed most of the errors on a database IDOT introduced three or four years ago used to keep track of bridge maintenance and inspection schedules. He said the database at times gave wrong inspection dates for bridges or recorded them as inspected when they weren't.

"We have been working on improving the quality of our bridge database," Claffey said. "We recognize that it missed over 100 bridges. It's described as an error in programming logic."

Sen. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria, a former IDOT engineer, acknowledged bridges have become a particularly sensitive subject since August's tragedy in Minneapolis but said citizens should not panic at the report.

"I'm not afraid something is going to fall in," Risinger said. "But they have bridge inspections scheduled for a reason."

The bridge report came as part of a larger department audit. The auditor general also recommended the department do a better job recording costs and uses of state vehicles and better document payments to other agencies.

Sun-Times News Group