On the evening of Wednesday, September 10th, the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding the collapse of a bridge on FM 1836 in southeastern Kaufman County. The Mabank, Kemp and Kaufman fire departments were notified and as rescuers arrived they discovered that a tractor trailer had been hauling a large backhoe over the bridge when the bridge collapsed.

The truck made it off the bridge, but the backhoe as well as a small 4-door passenger car behind the backhoe fell over 20 feet as the bridge collapsed. Rescuers discovered three individuals in the car; two of the occupants were transported via ambulance to local hospitals and the third was flown to the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. The occupants of the truck were unharmed.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the bridge had been inspected and found deficient. The deficiencies were sufficient to warrant the complete replacement of the bridge, however, work had not begun on the bridge at the time of the accident.

This bridge is one of nearly 2,000 bridges rated as “structurally deficient” by TxDOT’s inspectors. In July 2007, TxDOT was tracking 2,024 deficient bridges; by July 2008, this number had dropped to 1,841 as 209 bridges were replaced, 89 additional bridges were rehabilitated and an additional 115 bridges were newly classified as structurally deficient. If the state continues at this pace, it will take over ten years to repair/replace the bridges that TxDOT knows are structurally deficient.

In the wake of the tragic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota on August 1st, 2007 which resulted in the death of 13 individuals, Texans have been reassured that our bridges are safe. Krista Piferrer, spokeswoman for the Governor’s office, has been repeatedly quoted saying, “The bottom line is, if any bridge in Texas is deemed dangerous, we’re going to close it.”

This statement has been echoed by countless TxDOT spokespeople, including Ken Roberts, spokesman for TxDOT’s Waco office, who said, “any bridge deemed unsafe will be closed to traffic until repairs are made”.

However, while officials had scheduled this bridge, which carries approximately 1,200 vehicles per day, for demolition and replacement, they did not close the bridge in the meantime.

Blame does not rest solely with the state, however, as details have emerged concerning the truck and backhoe that was crossing the bridge at the time of its collapse - the truck and equipment, operated by an R.K. Hall Construction Co. crew, were estimated to weigh as much as 100,000 pounds - the bridge had a posted weight limit of 24,000 pounds.

The occupant of the car transported to ETMC in Tyler is listed in serious condition, the other two occupants are listed in stable condition.

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