At least 4 Utah bridges a hazard

Out of a list of 25 of the most at-risk bridges along the Wasatch Front compiled by the Deseret Morning News two years ago, at least four bridges remain a safety hazard and the status of three more is undetermined.

The list was based on a "sufficiency rating" compiled by the Utah Department of Transportation during semiannual bridge inspections of state, city and county structures. The rating includes factors such as the stability of bridge decks, beams and the foundation of a bridge structure.

West Jordan engineer Wendell Rigby said Friday that funding was the main reason one of his city's bridges over the Jordan River has yet to be fixed. It's the same story for other cities that have yet to repair their bridges.

"With transportation overall, we have a hard time," Rigby said. "We have put projects off just because we don't have the funding. That bridge, well, I don't know how many millions of dollars it is."

The four bridges that remain a safety hazard are owned by cities and counties. Officials in Ogden and Payson did not return phone calls seeking information on the repair status of three more bridges in their cities that were deemed at risk in 2005. Thirteen bridges of the 25 on the list, all state-owned structures, have been fixed or replaced, and six are now undergoing reconstruction or have funding for future fixes.

UDOT officials say they are working to fix the state's aging bridge structures. They say that even though a bridge may be ranked low in terms of its "sufficiency," that doesn't mean it's going to catastrophically fail. A sufficiency rating could mean the concrete on the bridge deck is wearing, or that the bridge has low clearance.

The agency plans to follow through with an edict issued Thursday by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to review the status of about 200 high-risk and structurally deficient bridges in the state. The governor's request came after a bridge collapse Wednesday in Minneapolis over the Mississippi River that left five people dead and several more still unaccounted for.

Investigators are reviewing the cause of the Minnesota accident, which likely was the result of a structural failure. City, county and state officials across the nation now are calling for review of the status of their bridges.

In Utah, state transportation officials said Friday that they will begin this weekend to plan the safety review of the 200 high-risk and structurally deficient bridges. A first phase of the review will begin on Monday and a second phase in about two to three months.