Resources for grading infrastructure
(March 2005)
For more IRE resources updated following the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis, click here.

A group of civil engineers is giving a bad grade to America's infrastructure, including roads, bridges, drinking water and energy. A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers, released Wednesday, gave America’s infrastructure an overall grade of D, down from a collective D+ received in 2001. “Congested highways, overflowing sewers and corroding bridges are constant reminders of the looming crisis that jeopardizes our nation’s prosperity and our quality of life.”

IRE and NICAR offers resources to assist journalists to cover the deterioration of the U.S. infrastructure, including government databases, previously published or broadcast stories on the topic, tipsheets and books to help guide journalists to find their own stories, and Web pages filled with links.

See previous pages IRE has compiled that are relevant to the engineers’ report.

In addition to those, IRE and NICAR can provide these infrastructure-related resources:

Databases
National Bridge Inventory
This dataset includes structural evaluations and information for bridges throughout the United States. The inspection reports include important criteria necessary for evaluating the condition of bridges as well as specific details relating to the location, age and ownership or each bridge. Many reporters have used this data to alert their communities to possible infrastructure hazards.

Federal Procurement Data System
Within this data are records of contracts the federal government has made with businesses relating to infrastructure work, including construction of bridges, tunnels, highways, streets, water lines, sewer lines and pipelines. Federal agencies are required to report contracts worth more than $25,000.

Consolidated Federal Funds Reports
This database includes records of federal money obligated to states, local governments, grants and direct loans, including infrastructure-related programs. Some of these programs involve security and safety of dams, highway planning and construction as well as the relocation of power lines, gas lines, roads, utilities and bridges.

Federal Assistance Award Data System
This database includes records of federal assistance relating to the nation's infrastructure awarded to individuals, state and local governments, profit agencies as well as nonprofit organizations. About 600 federal assistance programs are covered in this data including programs relating to emergency flood response and prevention; highway planning and construction; bridge alteration; road maintenance and protection of essential highways, highway bridge approaches, etc. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance lists all of these programs. To search the programs go to www.cfda.gov.

To order the data, call the Database Library at 573-884-7711 or download an order form.

Stories

Story #21397
In the Oregonian's three part series, Zaitz and Long take a look at Oregon’s deteriorating bridges. The bridges are in bad shape because, as some argue, Oregon allows truck weights that far exceed designed capacity. The bridges are cracking and Zaitz and Long discover it's not up to bridge designers to fix them. Instead, the problem lies in state politics. (2002)

Story #17779
"More than a quarter of the nation's bridges are too weak, dilapidated or overburdened for their current traffic, according to federal records." The Kansas City Star investigated Missouri and Kansas bridges, finding that "as of last year, nearly four out of 10 Missouri bridges were 'deficient'. In Kansas, nearly 26 percent of bridges rated as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete." However, "relief is coming. The Missouri General Assembly has approved selling up to $2.25 billion in bonds over several years to accelerate road and bridge projects already in the works. . . And in Kansas, the Legislature passes a 10-year, $13 billion transportation program in 1999. About $356 million of the money is earmarked for bridge work." (2001)

Story #17968
"Twenty-five percent of Minnesota's bridges and 28 percent of North Dakota's bridges are older than their designed life span of 50 years... Across the United States, one bridge in nine needs to be replaced." Federal funds are available once a bridge scores a sufficiency rating less than 50 (out of one hundred). In the Grand Forks area, de-rated bridges pose a problem for farmers who can't move new, heavy farm machinery across them to their farms. Also at issue is the fact that money is dispersed to counties that decide how to allocate transportation dollars. (2001)

Story #17635
A Fortune investigation reveals that not only is California suffering from a generator shortage, "but overloaded power lines pose a much greater risk of blowing the fuses of the national economy." The story reveals the results of a study finding that "since 1975, annual utility investments in the U.S. power transmission system have fallen by more than half, to about $2 billion, ... [and] meanwhile, sales of power loaded onto the lines have risen more than 100-fold since mid-decade." The report details how "operators of the grid are forced to run it ever closer to its limits" and points to a number of examples of "gridwide voltage drop" or mysterious slowing. The investigation explains how "peak-time line congestion pushes wholesale power prices sky-high." The author warns that this trend "is the main threat to the system nationwide." (2001)

Story #18794
A series of stories by the Tampa Tribune "detail the premature corrosion of the Sunshine Skyway and other post-tensioned concrete bridges in Florida. They reveal how Florida’s" Department of Transportation "tried to keep the problems under wraps and how the issues eventually triggered substantial changes in the way post-tensioned bridges are designed and built not only in Florida but across the nation. (2001)

Story #17686
This article examines the state of bridges in the Pittsburgh area.
Bartley finds that "bridges in this state are indeed in trouble - fourth worst in the nation, according to a new study. In particular, the Pittsburgh area is beset with a growing and worsening problem of aging, deteriorating bridges, caused by the sheer number of spans and what some call a shortage of bridge maintenance and construction money." (2000)

Story #17011
In this computer-assisted analysis, Armstrong and Robertson find that "one in seven bridges in Massachusetts is structurally deficient and in need of overhaul." They report on how bridges in Massachusetts need repair, "money to fix them is lacking, and public safety is threatened." The Globe analyzed inspection data for every bridge in Massachusetts. (2000)

Story #16374
KOMU's "computer-assisted investigation revealed that mid-Missouri's bridges are deteriorating and placing drivers into possibly dangerous situations every day... bridges dropping large pieces of concrete into traffic lanes on Interstate 70 ... the state had no plans to fix this problem anytime within the next five years... one in three bridges in mid-Missouri is structurally deficient ... it would take 49 years to fix the problems that current bridges have with current funding even though transportation officials say that an average bridge has a life span of 50 years...." (1999)

Story #12972
The Post-Bulletin in Rochester, Minn., shows that Minnesota's deteriorating bridges aren't being repaired and replaced fast enough, forcing some counties to restrict or close bridges while they wait for money needed to repair. It would take $184 million to bring deficient bridges up to the highest standards. (Nov. 12, 1994)

Story #15293
Mike Klahr was supposed to inspect the most dangerous bridges in middle Tennessee. But during WSMV-Nashville's surveillance, this Department of Transportation employee never went near a bridge. Instead, he ran a private painting business on state time, watered his lawn on state time, and often worked as little as one hour a day. One in four bridges is structurally deficient, and 29 bridges are so dangerous that people shouldn't be driving over them -- yet they are open to the public. (July 20-23, 1998)

Tipsheets

Tipsheet #2103
How can a journalist extract the juice out of the dozens of databases provided by the Ohio Department of Transportation? Cueing off from a 4-day series published by The Dispatch in 2002, this tipsheet suggests story ideas from these databases. They include stories on highway conditions on every mile of interstate and state highway lanes, and inspection reports that include specific criticisms and details about contractor error and work practices. Other stories include wrongful allocation of highway funds, extra cost overruns in contracts, lack of competition among contract bidders. According to the tipsheet, issues of highway inspectors working overtime, and analysis of traffic volume, accidents, etc. are also possible story ideas. (2004)

Tipsheet #2050
This tipsheet outlines three ways a reporter can go about obtaining highway data. The ways are to obtain it from the Federal Highway Administration, to get it from your state highway department, or to simple get it yourself. All three are examined at length. (2004)

Tipsheet #1537
Jennifer LaFleur of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offers tips for covering transportation, including tips on where to find good data and good web sites. (2002)

Tipsheet #1821
During the 2003 CAR conference, David Milliron of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution offers a primer on the transportation beat, with general tips and specific Web links and other info on planes, trains and automobiles.

IRE Publications
Uplink article
After a bridge on Interstate 40 collapsed in Oklahoma, the Tulsa World got to work analyzing the Department of Transportation's bridge data. Instead of looking at the whole state for problem bridges, they focused their attention on bridges that were on the detour routes given to the public. Their results showed that six of the bridges on the detour routes needed to be replaced. (July/August 2002)

The Investigative Reporter's Handbook has several chapters relevant to investigating the energy and communications industries and transportation systems. See the table of contents and a list of related Web sites for each chapter.

IRE members can search the indexes of The IRE Journal and Uplink. Back issues of The IRE Journal and Uplink may be purchased for $10 each. There is an additional $10 user fee for nonmembers. Check with the Resource Center at 573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org for availability.

To order stories or tipsheets from the IRE Resource Center, send e-mail to mailto:rescntr@ire.org or call us at 573-882-3364.