Local Area Bridges Falling Apart

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: About 1,000 bridges in dangerous condition
Nearly 1,000 bridges under the jurisdiction of local governments are in a dangerous condition, an inspection by the Construction and Transport Ministry has revealed...In one case, a crack measuring 50 centimeters long was found on the girder, a problem that could lead to the bridge's collapse. The ministry also found out that about 80,000 bridges had not been inspected over the past five years. Out of concern that there may be more bridges in a dilapidated condition, the ministry will move to identify such bridges quickly by launching a subsidiary system to help local governments pay for inspections. As of April, the country had about 134,400 bridges measuring 15 meters or longer that were under the control of prefectural and municipal governments, according to the ministry. Of those, traffic is limited or regulated on 977 bridges: 143 bridges are entirely closed to traffic due to the structural problems, such as corrosion of a pier by salt from seawater; while traffic was limited on 834 bridges, allowing only one lane of traffic or limiting the weight of vehicles crossing the bridges. Even more surprisingly, some of these bridges were found to have serious corrosion and other defects that could result in collapse...The ministry said damage was particularly pronounced with bridges that had been built during the country's rapid economic development period between the late 1950s and the early 1970s...Prefectural governments and government-designated cities will be asked to draw up plans by the end of fiscal 2011, while municipal governments will be required to do so by the end of fiscal 2013, according to the sources...In case local governments fail to take necessary steps by the deadlines, the ministry will stop providing the subsidies as punitive measures, according to the sources...more...

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: 121 bridges at risk of collapse from decay

Local governments closed 121 road bridges that were at risk of collapse from steel corrosion or concrete degradation as of April 2008, an infrastructure ministry survey has found. At a further 680 bridges, they banned the passage of large vehicles with heavy loads, weighing 25 tons or more in total, for fear they might cause the structures to give way. Most of the bridges have not reached the minimum service life of 50 years, indicating deterioration progressed faster than expected, according to officials. But more than 60 percent of local governments that manage decrepit bridges have made no plans to repair them because they lack the funds or engineers.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism made the survey of road bridges after a highway bridge collapsed in the U.S. city of Minneapolis in August 2007, killing 13. It compiled the figures based on reports from prefectures, cities, towns and villages, which are in charge of maintenance for 90 percent of the nation's 150,000 bridges that are 15 meters or longer. The survey found 121 bridges were closed to traffic after authorities found cracks and corrosion in their columns, slabs and other portions that could lead to a major accident. Including bridges less than 15 meters long, there were 143 closed for fear of collapse.

According to the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, the damage was caused by several factors, including metal fatigue from intensive use by large, heavy vehicles; breakup of reinforcing steel due to concrete expansion; and steel corrosion from salt damage. The bridges may have deteriorated faster because the volume of traffic from large, heavy vehicles was far greater than expected, and maintenance and repair work was insufficient, the institute said. In Japan, large vehicles such as buses and trucks account for more than 30 percent of road traffic, compared with 18 percent in Britain, 10 percent in Germany and 4.5 percent in the United States.

Since fiscal 2007, the government has footed half the bill for bridge repair plans drawn up by municipalities. But ministry officials say that as of March this year, nearly 40 percent of the cities, towns and villages that responded to the survey had not even started the emergency checkups needed to compile repair plans. Many cash-strapped municipalities could not afford the costs of checkups, which come to 200,000 yen or more per bridge. They also have few engineering officials capable of overseeing the work. As more inspections are carried out, the number of road bridges at risk of collapse will continue to increase because many are reaching the end of their durable life spans--usually set at 50 to 100 years.

A large number of road bridges were built during the high growth era of the 1960s. According to trial calculations by the ministry's Road Bureau, the proportion of bridges more than 50 years old, which was 6 percent in 2006, will jump to 20 percent in 2016 and 47 percent in 2026. The situation is similar to that in the United States in the 1970s. In the following decade, there were many cases of bridge closures, collapses and other problems. The United States raised gasoline taxes to fund repairs. The annual repair and maintenance costs for bridges under state care, about 700 billion yen in the 1970s, soared to more than 3 trillion yen by 2001. Inspection every other year has also been made mandatory in the United States. But as of 2006, about 25 percent of bridges still had problems.

In Japan, the annual repair costs for road bridges, including expressways, have hovered around 120 billion yen even though about 2,000 new bridges are built each year. Experts have also voiced concerns about deterioration at aging dams, airports and seaports. Hideo Fukui, a professor of administrative law at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, says politicians and bureaucrats are eager to build those facilities but are "not interested in such low-profile jobs as repairs and maintenance."

[nottu]

[IkemenTommy]

I wonder if the Rainbow Bridge is on the list.

[compositecurry]

A few years ago, I was waiting to cross the intersection at Rokuban-cho in Nagoya. A bridge for the Tokaido Shinkansen crosses it on a diagonal, it's one hell of a span. Just as I was thinking this, a train crossed it. Bounce. I hope Doctor Yellow checks that shit thoroughly.

Here's a pic (not mine): http://www.panoramio.com/photo/26201892

[Samurai_Jerk]

A few years ago, I was waiting to cross the intersection at Rokuban-cho in Nagoya. A bridge for the Tokaido Shinkansen crosses it on a diagonal, it's one hell of a span. Just as I was thinking this, a train crossed it. Bounce. I hope Doctor Yellow checks that shit thoroughly.

Here's a pic (not mine): http://www.panoramio.com/photo/26201892

Could you rewrite that so it makes sense? Thanks in advance.