Each day, over two hundred million trips are taken across sub-par bridges in the 102 largest metropolitan regions within the U.S. Likewise, one in nine of the country?s bridges are rated as structurally deficient, and the average bridge, of 607,380 nationwide is currently 42 years.
With statistics like these, it’s no wonder that America’s bridges are constantly under construction. From detailed repairs to full restoration and replacement, work on standing, functioning bridges almost always requires the project be supplemented with the use of a temporary, portable bridge. Here are three situations in which a portable bridge can be helpful in alleviating the burden or disruption caused by varying circumstances.
- Reduce detours and/or closures
- Rebuild After a Natural Disaster
- Create a Temporary Traffic Diversion
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Whether it be during a planned community event or through direction by law enforcement, communities are often required to create a temporary traffic diversion in order to avoid traffic through a specific area. Depending on the construction of the surrounding infrastructure and shape of the landscape, a quickly assembled bridge may be helpful and/or necessary. Municipalities may need to either rent a temporary bridge or, more specifically, rent a temporary pedestrian bridge depending on traffic patterns in the vicinity.
Aging bridges almost always require routine maintenance, which can result in a closure of the bridge to traffic. Though a necessary measure for a number of reasons, this measure can result in confusing and chaotic detours that leave drivers delayed and lost. When bridge work like this is at hand, being able to set up a temporary road and/or initiate temporary bridge construction can be key in reducing the disruption caused by the construction.
These bridges are also effective in accommodating damage from extreme acts of nature. According to The Mendecino Voice
Temporary bridge rapidly being built over gap in Orr Springs Rd., the town of Ukiah, California has recently used a portable bridge over a local sinkhole, which suddenly appeared on a roadway in the region.
The use of a portable bridge for situations like these allows for enhanced flexibility to surrounding events. They allow communities to maintain an infrastructure as close to normal as possible, regardless of the outside circumstances.
