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U.S. NEWS Thursday 18 July 2024
Aging bridges in 16 states will be improved or replaced with the

help of $5B in federal funding

By DAVID A. LIEB them up or the superstruc-
Associated Press tures that support their load.
Dozens of aging bridges in And more than 15,800 of the
16 states will be replaced or poor bridges also were listed
improved with the help of $5 in poor shape a decade
billion in federal grants an- ago, according to an Asso-
nounced Wednesday by ciated Press analysis.
President Joe Biden’s ad- The nation’s poor bridges are
ministration, the latest ben- on average 70 years old.
eficiaries of a massive infra- Bridges fulfill a vital role that
structure law. often goes overlooked until
The projects range from their closure disrupts people’s
coast to coast, with the larg- commutes and delays com-
est providing an additional merce. That was tragically
$1.4 billion to help replace highlighted in March when
two vertical lift bridges over a cargo ship crashed into a
the Columbia River that support column of the Fran-
carry Interstate 5 traffic be- cis Scott Key Bridge in Mary-
tween Portland, Oregon, land, causing the bridge to
and Vancouver, Washing- crumple into the water and
ton. The bridges, which also killing six road crew workers.
received $600 million in Maryland officials have said it
December, are “the worst could take four years and up
trucking bottleneck” in the to $1.9 billion to rebuild the
region, Transportation Secre- bridge. Some of the projects
tary Pete Buttigieg said. A logging truck drives on the Interstate 5 bridge that spans the Columbia River and connects announced Wednesday in-
The new bridges will be seis- Portland, Ore., with southwest Washington state, Feb. 13, 2024. clude multiple bridges, such
mically resilient and multi- Associated Press as a $251 million grant to
modal, with room for vehi- Cod, Massachusetts; an In- to keep our supply chains grants will make only a dent improve 15 bridges around
cles, pedestrians, bicycles terstate 10 bridge project in running smoothly.” in what the American Road Providence, Rhode Island.
and transit. Mobile, Alabama; and the The grants come from a & Transportation Builders That project is separate from
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek de- Interstate 83 South bridge $1.2 trillion infrastructure law Association estimates to be one to replace the Interstate
scribed the federal funding in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, signed by Biden in 2021 that $319 billion of needed bridge 195 Washington Bridge over
as “fantastic news” that which Buttigieg highlighted directed $40 billion to bridges repairs across the U.S. the Seekonk River, which was
will aid the economy while Wednesday with a visit. over five years the largest About 42,400 bridges are in suddenly closed to traffic
also advancing “goals of “These bridges affect whole dedicated bridge invest- poor condition nationwide, late last year because of
reducing carbon emissions regions and ultimately im- ment in decades. Biden has yet they carry about 167 mil- structural problems.
and curbing the effects of pact the entire U.S. econ- been touting the infrastruc- lion vehicles each day, ac- In Florida, Miami-Dade Coun-
climate change.” omy,” Buttigieg said. “Their ture law while campaigning cording to the federal gov- ty will receive $101 million to
Other projects receiving $500 condition means they need for reelection against former ernment. Four-fifths of those replace 11 Venetian Cause-
million or more include the major urgent investment to President Donald Trump. bridges have problems with way bridges that are nearly
Sagamore Bridge in Cape help keep people safe and But even Wednesday’s large the substructures that hold a century old. q

Army private who fled to North Korea is in talks to resolve military

charges, lawyer says

By ERIC TUCKER what any deal might entail, afternoon. After about two days with me before deploy- she said. “A mother knows
Associated Press but said a request had been months, Pyongyang abruptly ing did not drink and would her son, and I believe some-
WASHINGTON (AP) — A law- made to postpone the hear- announced that it would never have had anything to thing happened to mine
yer for an Army private who ing by two weeks and that expel him. He was flown on do with child pornography,” while he was deployed.”q
fled to North Korea and was the negotiations could result Sept. 28 to an Air Force base
later charged with desertion in no preliminary hearing be- in Texas. In October, he was
and possessing sexual images ing necessary. charged with desertion and
of a child said Wednesday King in July 2023 ran across also accused of kicking and
that he was in negotiations the heavily fortified border punching other officers last
with military prosecutors to from South Korea and be- year, unlawfully possessing
resolve the case against his came the first American alcohol, making a false state-
client. Army Pvt. Travis King detained in North Korea in ment and possessing a video
had been scheduled for a nearly five years. of a child engaged in sexual
preliminary hearing Tues- Officials said King was taken activity.
day in Fort Bliss, Texas. But to the airport and escorted His mother, Claudine Gates,
the hearing was canceled as far as customs. But instead said in a statement at the
to give the two sides room of getting on the plane, he time that she loved her son
to negotiate a resolution, left and later joined a civilian unconditionally and was ex-
King’s attorney, Franklin D. tour of the Korean border vil- tremely concerned about his
Rosenblatt, told The Associ- lage of Panmunjom. He ran mental health. A TV screen shows a file image of American soldier Travis King
ated Press. across the border, which is “The man I raised, the man I during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul,
He declined to discuss the lined with guards and often dropped off at boot camp, South Korea on Aug. 16, 2023.
details of the discussions or crowded with tourists, in the the man who spent the holi- Associated Press