Pulitzer Prize-winner Bill Dedman has produced an impressive computer-assisted reporting project for MSNBC.com, reporting that at least 17,000 U.S. bridges have gone more than two years between safety inspections.
The project, which is based on records released by the Federal Highway Administration after msnbc.com requested them under the Freedom of Information Act, can be viewed at http://bridges.msnbc.com
The project includes a Bridge Tracker interactive map that lets users easily check the bridges on their routes, and includes the condition and inspection dates for more than 100,000 bridges with traffic of at least 10,000 vehicles a day. The charts also include icons and links for readers to easily send e-mail to bridge officials in each state.
MSNBC.com is also making available to other journalists state-by-state files of all bridges in the nation, including summaries of their condition and inspection information. Those files are posted at Dedman’s personal site at http://powerreporting.com
Dedman asks that if you make any use of the information in these files, please credit: “Msnbc.com analysis of National Bridge Inventory through 2006, as reported by states in April 2007,” and include a link to the articles and online map: http://bridges.msnbc.com/
