Report Finds Serious Flaws In Longfellow Bridge
State Officials Refuse To Sign Off On Report
POSTED: 6:39 pm EDT April 26,
2008
UPDATED: 7:07 pm EDT April 26,
2008
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BOSTON -- An independent inspection found the Longfellow Bridge is in worse condition than first thought, but a top state official said the findings overstate the problems.NewsCenter 5’s Jim Morelli reported the study does not say the bridge is in danger of collapse but that it is in serious condition and needs immediate repairs.
Watch VideoThe state spent $915,000 on the inspection by Jacobs Engineering Group, but its release to the public has been delayed over the dispute.“This bridge is very well watched, very well inspected. Absolutely, DCR is assuring the public safety of the Longfellow,” said Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Richard Sullivan Jr.Sullivan said the report is dated, because it was based on information from last year, and repairs are ongoing.“The DCR has been extremely proactive in terms of what the report has been finding,” Sullivan said. “In fact, we’ve been making the repairs in real time as Jacobs was finding problems in the field as they were doing their inspections.”But everyone agrees the $4 million repairs are only a fraction of what eventually needs to be done to the bridge.Steve Poftak, with the Pioneer Institute, co-authored another report on the condition of the bridge in 2007.“We initially used the estimate that had been released I believe from MassHighway of $200 million,” said Steve Poftak from the Pioneer Institute. “You can’t just slap up a brand-new concrete bridge. You’ve really got to preserve the architectural detail and I think we all agree that that’s something worth doing, but it’s tremendously expensive to do it.”The latest cost projection for bridge repair is $250 million.
Watch VideoThe state spent $915,000 on the inspection by Jacobs Engineering Group, but its release to the public has been delayed over the dispute.“This bridge is very well watched, very well inspected. Absolutely, DCR is assuring the public safety of the Longfellow,” said Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Richard Sullivan Jr.Sullivan said the report is dated, because it was based on information from last year, and repairs are ongoing.“The DCR has been extremely proactive in terms of what the report has been finding,” Sullivan said. “In fact, we’ve been making the repairs in real time as Jacobs was finding problems in the field as they were doing their inspections.”But everyone agrees the $4 million repairs are only a fraction of what eventually needs to be done to the bridge.Steve Poftak, with the Pioneer Institute, co-authored another report on the condition of the bridge in 2007.“We initially used the estimate that had been released I believe from MassHighway of $200 million,” said Steve Poftak from the Pioneer Institute. “You can’t just slap up a brand-new concrete bridge. You’ve really got to preserve the architectural detail and I think we all agree that that’s something worth doing, but it’s tremendously expensive to do it.”The latest cost projection for bridge repair is $250 million.Copyright 2008 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
