Senator Landrieu: Louisiana bridges need attention - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana

Senator Landrieu: Louisiana bridges need attention

September 24, 2007
Reported by Associated Press

Hundreds of Louisiana bridges are in need of repair or replacement.  To fix or replace bridges in the state that have been deemed "structurally unsound" or "functionally obsolete" would require 10.5 billion dollars.  That's more than twice the amount the federal governments spends annually on bridge repair.

U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu says it's time the federal governments places more importance on such infrastructure improvements.

Landrieu, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, co-sponsored an amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill last week that adds 1 billion dollars to the Department of Transportation's Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program.  The amended bill passed in a 60-33 vote in the Senate.

The senator told news conference yesterday in Lake Charles that Louisiana will receive an additional 40 million dollars more in federal funds for its bridges from the 5 billion dollars earmarked for bridge work nationwide.

Landrieu says the problem is the state has 13,000 bridges, and 40 percent of them are structurally deficient.