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The Commonwealth

Bridge Inspection Focuses on Outdated Steel

WEKU | By Amanda Van Benschoten, Kentucky Enquirer

Published October 12, 2011 at 9:58 AM EDT

Jeff Sams, a Kentucky Cabinet of Transportation bridge inspector, checks structural steel near a gussett plate atop the Carroll Cropper Bridge between Indiana and Boone County. The bridge is undergoing a "fracture critical inspection."

n inspection is under way this week on the I-275 Carroll C. Cropper Bridge between Kentucky and Indiana to determine whether the span has any structural problems caused by outdated steel. At issue is a type of 1960s-era steel known as T-1 steel. The material was linked to a crack discovered in a load-bearing beam of Louisville's I-64 Sherman Minton Bridge, which closed on Sept. 9. As a result, the Federal Highway Administration urged states to do special inspections of all bridges that contain T-1 steel components.

The Commonwealth

Amanda Van Benschoten, Kentucky Enquirer

See stories by Amanda Van Benschoten, Kentucky Enquirer

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