The Minneapolis I-35 bridge collapse has brought the nation's attention to bridge safety in all states in the nation. All states have an inventory of bridges that are monitored for safety concerns. Georgia has it's own list that fall in this category. Many of us drive over these bridges daily without giving them a second thought. Indeed, it is often not obvious to the public which bridges fall within this category.

North Georgia has it's own list of bridges that are deficient in some way. We looked at two with ratings that may at first glance seem to be of concern. The first is a bridge located just west of Dahlonega in Lumpkin County off of Highway 9 west of town. This bridge is listed as obsolete and was built in 1953, and currently has a listing of 38.4 with a 100 rating as completely serviceable and a rating of zero indicating it is unserviceable to traffic.

This bridge is located over Cane Creek just a short distance west of town on highway 9. Each of the bridges on the national list currently have a traffic load of 10,000 or more cars a day. This bridge is constructed of concrete and steel and while it does show signs of age, appears to be quite servicable in this area of Lumpkin County. As the pictures show, from the road a driver does not seem to have any cause for concern. The two additional pictures are views from below the bridge, and even there it does not appear to have any problems that are easily identifiable.

Just north of Gainesville, Georgia on highway 129 is the bridge with the lowest ranking in Hall County. This bridge has far more daily traffic than the bridge in Lumpkin County, and appears to be of more modern design even though it was built in 1957. Crossing the Chattahoochi River going into Lake Lanier, it too does not appear to have any obvious problems to drivers crossing the bridge daily. The National Registry of Bridges classifies this bridge as obsolete too, and gives this one a rank of 53.5 out of 100. 

While there are a large number of bridges in Georgia that are listed as obsolete and a mid ranking between 40 and 60, most of us would not give them a second though as we travel each day. There are a number that fall below these levels, with many of these in low traveled locations in the state. Many of the poorest maintained and rated bridges in the state are railroad bridges. These make of a larger percentage of the low rated bridges than highway bridges used by traffic. For the most part we must trust that our Georgia State DOT does their part to maintain highway safety for the general public. The DOT folks that have the expertise to let us know when something is wrong and they protect the public.

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