DOT OIG Urges Greater Bridge Repair Oversight

Washington, July 23 – Poor data and outdated regulations are hampering the Federal Highway Administration’s efforts to ensure that states effectively use federal funds to repair their most deficient bridges, a key official with the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General recently told a congressional panel.

The agency lacks sufficient data to evaluate whether billions of dollars apportioned to states through the Highway Bridge Program, and billions more apportioned under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, have been used to improve the condition of deficient bridges nationwide, Joseph Comé, assistant inspector general for highway and transit audits for the DOT OIG, told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Highway and Transit.