We've heard a lot about yesterday's bridge collapse in Minneapolis, and we also noted a story yesterday about repairs on a Highway 288 bridge that had to be carried out after recent heavy rains washed out part of the bridge's embankment. The natural question, then: Could something like the Minneapolis collapse happen in Houston? And the answer: Sure it could, but officials are doing their best to make sure it doesn't.
According to the Chronicle, highway bridges across Texas are routinely inspected every other year, but 55 bridges in the Houston area have had unscheduled inspections in the wake of this summer's rains. TxDOT crews are looking for evidence of scour — erosion around bridge supports that could undermine the bridge structure — and several heavily used Houston-area bridges are on the "scour-critical" list, including the Highway 59 bridges over the Brazos and San Jacinto rivers and the Interstate 45 bridge over Buffalo Bayou downtown. That doesn't mean they're going to collapse, but it means the state is keeping an eye out for any signs of weakness: "[Bridges] don't go down without a fight," Kenneth Ozuna, TxDOT's head bridge designer, told KHOU. "Typically what happens is, there'll be a dip in the roadway, and we get phone calls." Jean-Louis Briaud with the Texas Transportation Institute, who TxDOT has hired to evaluate bridges across the state, agreed: "The process is quite slow, actually. This is a process that will take place over many, many years," he said.
Even though the constant heavy rain has stopped, TxDOT's Janelle Gbur said there could still be problems developing on roads in the region: "We are in a drying-out phase, and, historically, after supersaturation like this, we will see potholes coming seemingly out of nowhere," she told the Chronicle. "Moisture is pulled up through the concrete as it starts to bake in the sun, and then the pavement starts to crack." Ah, there's always something to look forward to.
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Photo: flickr user cybertoad
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