In a follow-up to his report two-weeks ago on Cass County’s 5-year bridge replacement/repair plan, County Engineer Charles Marker today (Wednesday), told the Board of Supervisors out of 226 bridges in the County, 45 are “Structurally Deficient.” He says a bridge is deemed “Structurally deficient,” when the components of the bridge…the deck, the support beams, etc., cannot support a legal load limit. When a bridge cannot support the legal minimum load, it must be marked with a sign indicating the maximum weight limit.

To that end, Marker presented the Board with a Resolution – which they unanimously approved – setting the posted weight limits on bridges in the County. In making the announcement with regard to the 45 bridges in Cass County that are “Structurally deficient,” Marker noted a report in the Washington Post that said 21-percent of all bridges in Iowa are deemed structurally deficient, or second in the nation for problem bridges. Cass County is right along the lines of the State average, at 20-percent. He said that “Isn’t anything to brag about, but it’s good to know we’re the same as they are.”

Five-percent of the bridges in the State are also “Functionally Obsolete.”