The Kansas Department of Transportation says the structural integrity of the Quincy-Polk Interstate 70 viaduct is sound after a 60-foot portion of the concrete barrier collapsed earlier this month.
Thankfully, no one was hurt and KDOT dodged a catastrophic disaster as a result. People aren’t “Looney Tunes” and wouldn’t bounce back from that much debris landing on them.
The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Tim Hrenchir reports a KDOT bridge inspector has resigned after failing to notify a supervisor of warning signs shown in photos taken during a May 23 inspection.
KDOT now plans to audit all of its bridge inspections. The review will include an audit of all the inspections conducted by the inspector who handled the Polk-Quincy Viaduct work. The 105 bridges that cross over traffic will be prioritized first. KDOT will hire people from the private sector to help the eight inspectors it already employs to conduct those inspections.
We think this was a swift and decisive action that only ensures the safety of drivers statewide. We appreciate that KDOT has used this situation as a humbling but teachable moment.
Hrenchir also reports after a review of Shawnee County’s 568 bridges, 58 are in need of replacement, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, though none were designated unsafe. Additionally, the phrase “basically intolerable” was used to describe 50 of those bridges, including nine that are used by more than 14,000 vehicles a day. Topeka’s city government maintains six of those nine bridges, while KDOT maintains the other three.
Hrenchir reports this is a matter of jargon. The only reason the three KDOT-maintained bridges were classified as “basically intolerable” is because federal highway officials use that term to describe bridges for which the decks are narrower than they would be if those bridges were being built brand new, which is the case with all three, KDOT secretary Julie Lorenz.
Lorenz added, “The bridges are safe, just narrow.”
We’re glad to know none of the bridges in Shawnee County are unsafe.
We’re glad to know KDOT is taking steps to keep Kansans safe.
“Keeping drivers and pedestrians safe is our top priority,” Lorenz said. “We are taking these additional actions out of an abundance of caution for travelers and will work diligently to make these safety improvements as quickly as possible.”
