Texas has fixed only one of the 20 most heavily traveled bridges defined as structurally deficient a year after the deadly collapse of a Minnesota overpass with the same label prompted calls for greater bridge safety, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
No bridges in Comal County are in danger of structural failure, the Texas Department of Transportation’s San Antonio District bridge engineer said Wednesday.
Jon Kilgore said there are bridges classified by the Federal Highway Administration definition as structurally deficient in Comal County, but that doesn’t mean they are likely to collapse. One such structure is the Rebecca Creek Bridge in northern Comal County, which is a public safety issue because of flooding.
“The creek washes over it frequently during flood events,” he said. “We were able to get it classified as structurally deficient ... and were able to get funds for that reason. It’s very narrow.”
The Rebecca Creek Bridge replacement project recently was begun by highway officials and is scheduled to be replaced in the next couple of years.
If bridge inspectors, who evaluate every bridge in Texas — both state-owned and off-system bridges — every two years, are concerned a bridge could collapse, it is immediately shut down.
In May, TxDOT contractors completed a replacement bridge spanning the Guadalupe River at Gruene. Kilgore said the old bridge was classified functionally obsolete because it was too narrow, not structurally deficient.
