(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — After Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning, experts in Illinois have begun to weigh in on how the state is doing in maintaining its own bridges.
A tragedy like the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed after it was struck by a container ship, has been a wake-up call to other states needing to take a closer look at their bridges.
Michael Sturino, the president and CEO of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, said inspections are essential to ensuring the state’s bridges do not collapse.
“We’re monitoring the overall condition of the bridge. We’re looking for cracks; we’re looking for stresses, some of the structural components of the bridge.”
Sturino said Illinois ranks third in the nation when it comes to the number of bridges currently classified as “structurally deficient” — a designation that applies to nearly 2,500 of the state’s more than 26,000 bridges.
He added that the designation doesn’t mean the bridges are unsafe, but it does mean they need attention.
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