Report scores: Brent Spence in decline

• The Brent Spence Bridge is in structural decline%2C according to 10 years of inspection reports.
• Overall grades still show bridge is safe%2C but raise concerns about future decay.
• State waiting on %2472 million to retrofit bridge as part of %242.4 billion new bridge project.
• Experts worry about future corrosion and stress.

The 51-year-old Brent Spence Bridge really is showing its age. Worsening grades in 10 years of inspection reports shows it.

An Enquirer analysis of annual reports over the past decade finds that inspectors have given the heavily trafficked bridge worsening scores in major categories of upkeep, maintenance and structural integrity.

The bridge's overall "sufficiency" rating, on a scale from 1 to 100, was 59 in last year's report, the equivalent of a C-. The bridge rated a 78 in 2006, the equivalent of a B+.

While the bridge is still considered structurally sound and state highway officials maintain it's safe, its declining state concerns some experts. Last month, falling concrete from a ramp on the Ohio side crushed and totaled a Ford Fusion parked underneath, while its owner attended a Bengals football game.

Inspection reports for 2003-2013 obtained through open records requests show that:

• The bridge hasn't been painted since 1991, causing more than cosmetic problems. Old and peeling paint has contributed to increased rust and minor cracking that could lead to larger cracks on steel trusses and rivets.

• Concrete has decayed, exposing internal steel on major deck joints and creating potential for further corrosion, especially on the northbound bottom deck. Once internal "rebar" steel starts rusting, it can force further cracking and crumbling of the surrounding concrete.

• Drains are continually clogged, and drainpipes have rusted through. That allows water to pool on the bridge during heavy rains and fall in waves between joints from the top to the bottom deck, creating a driving hazard. Some drivers have likened the phenomenon to driving through a car wash.

Nearly everyone agrees that the Brent Spence Bridge – one of the nation's most critical highways – needs to be replaced. It is designated "functionally obsolete" for design deficiencies including narrow lanes and lack of emergency pull-over lanes.

The problem continues to be lack of a funding plan or construction start date for the $2.4 billion replacement job. Key legislators from Kentucky, which owns the bridge, are adamantly opposed to using tolls to help cover the cost.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials acknowledged last week that the department has spent less than $1 million on bridge upkeep in the past three years.

Results from this year's inspection, conducted last month by Kentucky and Ohio highway officials, are due back in January.

"Not to embarrass the transportation department there, but this appears to be a forgotten bridge over the last five or six years," said Abolhassan Astaneh, a professor of structural and bridge engineering at the University of California-Berkeley. He was an expert witness in the lawsuits surrounding the collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minnesota in 2007. Thirteen people died and 145 were injured as 100 cars plunged into the Mississippi River.

"From reviewing the inspection reports, it appears that more things should be done to get the bridge back into shape. If they keep waiting to fix it, the bridge's condition will continue to worsen even more quickly," Astaneh said.

He referred to the most recent in-depth inspection from 2012, which recommended 10 fixes. Only a few minor maintenance items have been completed off that list, including annual drain cleanings and repairs to minor concrete damage to retaining walls.

Still unaddressed: the decaying paint, deck joints, broken and missing guide plates in the upper deck and cracks on floor beams, among other items.

Kentucky highway officials are trying to secure $72 million for a full rehab of the Brent Spence as part of the larger project to build a replacement alongside the existing bridge. Rehab would include all new deck joints, new paint and a new concrete deck surface.

"We obviously know there are things that need to be upgraded and maintained on the bridge, but we also know that if we did it now, we could possibly be faced with the possibility of tearing it all out again when we do the full retrofit," said Rob Hans, District 6 executive director of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

"So we will continue to monitor and inspect the bridge, and if something comes up that needs immediate repair, we will put it through our cycle for funding.

"The bridge is safe, and we will make sure it stays that way," Hans said.

Opened in 1963, the Brent Spence was designed to handle 90,000 vehicles a day. Now it carries more than 160,000 vehicles daily, with heavier stress-causing trucks making up 25 percent of that. The bridge is considered a critical linchpin in the I-75 commercial corridor that runs from north of Detroit through Florida.

Hans said that despite the declining scores, the bridge still has good grades overall. The sufficiency rating has lowered to 59 for multiple reasons outside of structural integrity, including increased daily traffic, he said.

Grades on the state of superstructure, deck, paint and substructure or tiers have declined from 7-8 to 6-7 over the past decade. Hans says those scores, on a scale of 1-9, are still "pretty good for a 51-year old bridge."

The bridge is considered "functionally obsolete" because it does not meet current design standards. More specifically, its lanes are not a full 12 feet wide, and it has no emergency pull-off lanes. In addition, the weaving necessary to get from an exit on one end to the other creates major traffic hazards.

The last major repairs were made in 2011, when two joints on the top deck and concrete on the approaches were replaced at a cost of $850,000.

Asteneh said continual exposure to the elements as well as heavier loads of trucks are creating "a vicious cycle" known as stress corrosion. In short, rust creates some cracks, which are then made bigger by higher stresses due to increased truck traffic. The larger cracks then let in more water causing further rust, especially with little paint protection.

"It is becoming a serious condition there," Astenah said.

Hans said the bridge will need continual monitoring and possible upkeep soon, but declined to speculate on potential future maintenance costs.

"The structure of the Brent Spence is fine," Hans said. "It's old, though, so we will continue to do maintenance items on the bridge as we see fit."