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Can a new bridge in Whitehall be 'functionally obsolete'?

Q: PennDOT's recent report on the condition of bridges statewide contains an entry for the new bridge over Jordan Creek, carrying Mickley Road at Helfrich Springs in Whitehall Township. The entry that caught my eye lists the bridge as being "FO," which suggests "functionally obsolete" as per the key. I find it strange that a bridge constructed in 2006 should bear this stigma. Is this possible? — Dennis MacLean, Allentown

A: It depends on who's behind the wheel, Dennis.

The bridge technically is rated as functionally obsolete, according to PennDOT. But Lehigh County officials disagree, contending that the PennDOT report summary you cite is mistaken.

If you'll recall, this brand-new bridge was built with great fanfare because Lehigh County officials decided their taxpayers should pick up the $2 million tab in order to avoid the red-tape delays of the normal federal funding process.

PennDOT spokesman Ron Young said the bridge is rated as functionally obsolete because of a substandard lane width; current lane-width standards did not have to be followed because federal funding was not used for the project.

County Capital Projects Manager Glenn Solt disagreed, saying the 12-foot lanes meet the standard because they match the lane widths of Mickley Road, in effect qualifying as an exemption. ''That is the proper roadway width,'' Solt said, adding that county officials believe a coding error on an inspection form may have resulted in the incorrect rating.

Exemption or not, Young countered, it's possible the bridge still could be rated as functionally obsolete by its failure to meet the standard.

Applying the standard in this case would be absurd, Solt said: The bridge's curb-to-curb width would have to be 40 feet, or 43 percent greater than the 28-foot width as built.

In a real-world sense, the 12-foot lanes, which are flanked by 2-foot shoulders and then 5-foot pedestrian sidewalks, are plenty wide for safe, efficient traffic flow, now and into the foreseeable future, Solt said: ''The bridge is, without question, not functionally obsolete.''

While in first gear on his drive through the Mickley bridge inspection summary, the Warrior came upon another surprising detail: The span earned an overall sufficiency rating of only 41 points out of a possible 100, for a bridge that opened just 16 months ago.

But that number is a mistake for sure, said Karl Kroboth, PennDOT's regional bridge engineer. ''We're thinking it's around a 96,'' he said, adding the report would be corrected at the next update in December.

The Warrior hit a couple other potholes in the inspection report.

The new bridge rates only 7 of 9 points in the condition rating for the deck, or roadway itself, as well as for the substructure, or piers and abutments that hold everything up. Only the superstructure — the steel girders or other supports beneath the deck — rate the maximum of 9, defined as ''excellent,'' according to the report summary released by PennDOT.

A 7 rating is defined as ''good, some minor problems noted,'' in the summary issued six weeks ago, one of 6,400 such inspection reports for locally owned bridges prompted by the Aug. 1 collapse of a Minneapolis, Minn., bridge. PennDOT also released summaries of the conditions of 25,000 of its own bridges in response to the Minneapolis disaster, which took 13 lives.

How could a year-old bridge receive 7 ratings instead of 9s?

After Solt reviewed the full report — only summaries were released by PennDOT, which does not consider the complete reports to be public documents — he said the 7 ratings on the deck and substructure are related to tiny cracks in the concrete.

''While new, the deck has experienced light hairline shrinkage cracking ... and the bridge railing does not meet current standards, but is presumed to have a design exemption'' from those standards, Solt read from the report.

The inspectors from STV Inc. of Douglassville, Berks County, also found ''a couple of vertical shrinkage cracks'' in the substructure, Solt said, prompting the diminished rating for that feature. (An STV engineer declined to discuss details of the report, citing a confidentiality agreement.)

Such cracks are not unusual, even for new concrete, and they pose no safety threat, said Solt, who helped administer the bridge replacement when he was Whitehall Township executive, and oversees the maintenance of all county bridges in his current role.

The strange saga of the Mickley bridge and its contested inspection report grated on Solt's nerves. The functionally obsolete designation in particular is an example of ''where you get into the asininity of PennDOT'' and the state and federal regulations that needlessly burden and delay critical projects, he said.

''For us to tell the public we're going to spend their money on a bridge that is 40 feet curb-to-curb under those conditions is simply absurd,'' he said.

The disagreement goes to the heart of the county's decision to pay for the new bridge — otherwise, it would have taken years longer to navigate what many consider nitpicking state and federal funding and approval processes.

Those studies and approvals are intended to protect the public safety, and prevent the kind of Minnesota tragedy that prompted the release of the inspection reports in the first place, as well as to protect the environment and historical properties and artifacts.

But it's a matter of degree, municipal officials contend, bemoaning some of the scrutiny as needlessly stringent and time-consuming. It's a head-butting debate that's been going on for decades, and isn't likely to end soon.

Located near MacArthur Road and a frenzied shopping district, 12,000 vehicles per day used the Mickley bridge's century-old predecessor in February 2005, when it was closed because large chunks of it literally fell into the creek.

Road Warrior appears Mondays and Fridays. E-mail questions about roadways, traffic and transportation to hartzell@mcall.com. Please include your name and the municipality where you live. Or, write to Road Warrior, The Morning Call, 101 N. Sixth St., Allentown, PA 18101-1480.