Washington Post: DOT inspector general to audit bridge safety efforts (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/wp/2013/08/05/dot-inspector-general-to-audit-bridge-safety-efforts/)
QuoteThe Department of Transportation's inspector general's office announced Monday that it will conduct a series of audits examining the Federal Highway Administration's efforts to ensure bridge safety.
QuoteThe move comes at the request of Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W. Va.), ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. It follows the collapse of a portion of the Skagit River Bridge in May in Washington state. No one was injured in the incident, but it raised serious questions about the state of the nation's bridges. The cost to repair the broken segment of the Skagit River Bridge is approximately $5 million – but that is a mere fraction of what it will cost to get the nation's bridges into shape.
Shouldn't this be an audit of truckers, permits and oversized loads? The bridge itself was relatively fine (except for its width) but it was hardly in danger of collapsing under a normal traffic load.