after the horrific bridge colapse in minneapolis this week, it’s a wake up call for the whole nation regarding infastructure!  with over 7,300 bridges and 1,800 of them deemed definicient or obsolete (another article mentions 3,000) across washington state, it may put some much needed urgency on the two main structures close to downtown seattle: 520 & the alaskan way viaduct. 

i am always so nervous to drive on both of them after the ’01 earthquake shut the viaduct down for months and every wind storm they close 520 in fear that it will crumble!  the following data makes me want to stay off of them even on a nice sunny day:

KING 5 looked at federal date on Western Washington bridges.  A score of 50 percent or less means the bridge might need to be replaced.  The I-35W Bridge in Minnesota scored right at the 50 percent mark.  Seattle’s 520 bridge scored 52.5 percent, but even more disturbing is that the Alaskan Way viaduct scored less than 20 percent.