[Sekkle]

Article from the Oregonian today...

Multnomah County commissioner pushes to close Sellwood Bridge
Engineers say the aging span across the Willamette River is still safe
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
ARTHUR GREGG SULZBERGER
The Oregonian

Frustrated that money for the Sellwood Bridge remains nowhere in sight, Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey is calling to close the decrepit span.

The county is in the midst of a two-year, $5 million review to decide whether to repair or replace the bridge, but hasn't found the money to pay for a project expected to cost as much as $450 million.

The 83-year-old bridge, the busiest two-lane crossing in the state, is cracked and sagging with a 3-year-old weight limit that prohibits buses, firetrucks and other heavy vehicles.

Nevertheless, county, state and independent engineers who conduct regular checks of the bridge -- most recently this week -- continue to say it's safe to carry the estimated 30,000 cars that travel over it each day.

"We're staying on top of it," said Ian Cannon, the county's top bridge engineer.

Rojo de Steffey is taking issue with that assurance, saying the county is better off closing the bridge now if it can't get a 100 percent guarantee that the bridge won't fail.

"I'm ready now to close it," Rojo de Steffey said. "On my watch I don't want to be responsible if it goes down."

Commissioner Lonnie Roberts said he shared the concern and was leaning toward supporting closing the bridge.

"It's not going to get better," he said. "I don't want to close it unnecessarily, but there's no way to know when it's going to collapse. We need to take some leadership here."

County and state bridge experts were surprised by the sudden interest in closing the bridge without any new information suggesting it's no longer safe.

Bruce Johnson, the top bridge engineer with the Oregon Department of Transportation, had his staff accompany county engineers on an inspection Monday. He said the problems with the bridge are serious, but well-managed.

"I don't have any concerns about the safety of the bridge," he said.

County Chairman Ted Wheeler, who led an unsuccessful push to raise local money for a new bridge, said any decision to shut it down should rest with experts, not politicians.

"I believe the bridge is safe based on the information I'm getting from our engineers," he said. But he also noted: "If we ever got any information that the bridge is not safe, we would close it without hesitation."

It's unclear whether the county has the authority to unilaterally close the bridge or whether the city or the state also would have a say, said County Attorney Agnes Sowle, who is drafting a legal opinion on the subject.

A closure could create serious traffic problems, with an estimated 20,000 additional cars heading to the nearby Ross Island Bridge or other downtown crossings every day, said Mike Pullen, a county spokesman on bridge issues.

Though the Sellwood Bridge's deficiencies are well-known, it has come under increased scrutiny after the collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis last summer. Much of the discussion has centered on the Sellwood's low federal sufficiency rating -- just 2 out of 100 (as opposed to 50 out of 100 for the Minnesota bridge). But engineers say the number is designed to show eligibility for federal money, not just the safety of the bridge.

Nevertheless, Wheeler cited the figure repeatedly as he tried to get local communities to endorse his plan for increasing the amount county residents pay to register their cars to help raise the local share for a new bridge.

But he dropped the plan when three cities refused to support the fee increase. Now, Wheeler said he's trying to build support for a regional bridge authority that would include neighboring counties.

Rojo de Steffey criticized Wheeler for dropping the plan, saying he should have cut whatever deals necessary to get Gresham, Troutdale and Maywood Park to sign on because a regional plan will take too long.

Some officials privately dismissed Rojo de Steffey's move to shut down the Sellwood as a tactic to increase pressure on the cities as well as neighboring counties to help pay for a new bridge. But Rojo de Steffey said she's driven by genuine safety concerns.

She has said publicly that she's too scared to drive over the bridge herself, a comment that has carried particular weight because she's spearheaded the planning process for a new bridge and knows the bridge better than the other commissioners.

Commissioner Lisa Naito is leaning toward Rojo de Steffey's way of thinking.
"I'm fully prepared if we cannot guarantee the bridge is safe, to shut it down," Naito said at a board meeting last week. "We have no realistic plan to pay for a replacement bridge at this point, not even to repair this bridge. We have no legal obligation, statutory or otherwise, to continue operating this bridge."

Commissioner Jeff Cogen said the bridge should stay open until engineers say it's unsafe.

"What I support will not be based on hysteria; it will be based on the facts," he said. "I wouldn't close it just because people are afraid of it if the fear is not real."

Arthur Gregg Sulzberger: 503-221-8330; arthursulzberger@ news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/orego...830.xml&coll=7

How can anyone possibly give a 100% guarantee that a bridge (or any other structure) won't fail?