Accessing bridge inspection information

From the Fall 2007 issue of The News Media & The Law, page 6.

The Federal Highway Administration’s Web site includes a series of links to bridge information, which the public can access at www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge. Titled, “Bridge Technology,” the FHWA site includes a National Bridge Inventory database, featuring raw data for bridges in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

To find a more user-friendly version of the FHWA’s bridge database, try the Investigative Reporters and Editors Web site at www.ire.org. Click on the link titled “Database Library,” click a second time on the “Government database collection” on the right and then scroll down to “Public Safety,” next to which a “National Bridge Inventory” link will appear.

Finally, to find bridge information and data furnished by individual state departments of transportation, try a page offered by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials at www.transportation.org. Clicking on the “U.S. Bridge Information” tab on the page’s upper right corner will connect to a page featuring, among other bridge-related subjects, a link to “Bridge Statistics and Facts.” Clicking this latter link will take one to a list of state transportation departments and, in some cases, the state’s available bridge information.