National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act of 2008

Floor Speech

NATIONAL HIGHWAY BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION AND INSPECTION ACT OF 2008

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Mr. LOEBSACK. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

My amendment to this bill is simple. It requires the Secretary, in consultation with States, to study the risk to bridges posed by a 500-year flood and to report the results to Congress not later than 2 years after the enactment of this legislation.

In this study, consideration is to be given to safety, serviceability, essentiality for public use and for public safety, including the potential impacts to regional and national freight and passenger mobility if the serviceability of the bridge is restricted or diminished.

As the Nation became aware after the tragedy in the State of Minnesota in August of last year, our transportation infrastructure and especially our bridges are deteriorating.

The State of Iowa, among others, has experienced devastating flooding these past 2 months, which in portions of my district continues even today. Numerous cities in my district experienced flooding well beyond the predicted 500-year flood level, leading to what will be the worst natural disaster in the State's recorded history.

As of Friday of last week, one bridge in my district was still closed, and even today, eastbound traffic on a major bridge in one city remains closed because of a sinkhole. It is likely that these bridges have sustained damage that could endanger individuals and families in my district. These risks are real, and I commend Chairman Oberstar and the ranking member for crafting this legislation and also for creating a risk-based prioritization system for the replacement and for the rehabilitation of deficient bridges.

One very real risk to bridges is a major flood event. It is essential that we authorize the study to further examine the danger to bridges from a devastating flood like Midwestern States have experienced in recent months.

It is my hope with this study that the more information we have to identify safety issues which may endanger people's lives the better prepared Federal, State and local governments will be to cope with flood disasters and to make adjustments to transportation policy to further ensure the public's safety.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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