Bridge Removed After Shortcuts Taken

[US71]

The Washington County (AR) Road Department demolishes a bridge after a video reveals shortcuts taken during construction.

Really? Gambling with people's lives just to save a couple dollars? 

[cjk374]

Unbelievable!  I would've thought that AHTD would be in charge of bridges throughout the state, just as LaDOTD is here.  I was part of concrete testing of a county road bridge in Dumas, AR and AHTD was present to do concrete tests alongside us.

[bjrush]

Is the Washington County Assessor an engineer? Why is he doing bridge inspections? Why was this video shot?

[Revive 755]

Really? Gambling with people's lives just to save a couple dollars? 

A lot more common than one would think.

I would've thought that AHTD would be in charge of bridges throughout the state, just as LaDOTD is here.  I was part of concrete testing of a county road bridge in Dumas, AR and AHTD was present to do concrete tests alongside us.

Were the bridges built using local funds only - no federal or Arkansas tax dollars - so AHTD would not need or want to keep an eye on the project?

[bjrush]

AHTD inspects all bridges in Arkansas but the counties have their own funding sources and workforce

[US71]

Is the Washington County Assessor an engineer? Why is he doing bridge inspections? Why was this video shot?

He was tipped off regarding possible poor workmanship and went to investigate.

[AHTD]

A bridge constructed by a city or county in Arkansas that is federally funded is typically bid by AHTD and construction is inspected by AHTD.

Bridges constructed by local forces are inspected by someone else. AHTD does not provide blanket construction inspection - we only provide that for our own bridges and for those funded by federal funds.

Per the Feds we are required to offer free inspection services on city and county-owned bridges. Depending on the type of structure, this can be at 12 or 24 month intervals. In the case of the Broadway Bridge in central Arkansas, it's every six months (if memory serves).

As we have been telling the NWA media all week, our team is in receipt of letters from both the Washington County Judge and the State Attorney General. We are performing a bit of due diligence to see what, if any of the requests can be met. Hopefully we will provide responses to these letters within the week.

[US71]

KFSM News reports work environment and a lack of proper training led to the faulty bridge construction.

[Atomica]

And maybe this will serve as a wakeup call to contractors who are even THINKING about cutting corners to save money.    Those "savings" will evapourate with a lawsuit.  As an inventory auditor whose work takes me into and through Arkansas I commend the decision to remove the substandard bridge.
On this side of the Missouri state line we don't have quite that problem but still a number of bridges that are ageing and therefore less apt to support the demands of even the most ordinary traffic.