Bridge blahs

The good news is that Rhode Island's bridges rarely fail to entertain. The bad news is that they don't always sustain. If you're a bridge, that's a problem. In the wake of last year's Minnesota bridge collapse we learned that the Ocean State is listed as worst in the nation in the category of bridge safety, with 55 percent of its 749 bridges rated deficient or obsolete. Residents routinely encounter detours for bridges that have been shut down or lanes closed for repairs. Truckers passing through Rhody have to go north-south via Route 295 or else risk fines (and limbs) driving on the Pawtucket River Bridge. The old Jamestown Bridge - the Erector Set - was notorious for seeming more like an amusement park ride than a serious way to get from South County to Conanicut Island. Some state transportation officials living on Jamestown refused to cross it, choosing to add miles and minutes by traveling over the Newport and Mount Hope bridges instead. But the news isn't entirely grim. Bridges have given Rhode Island two of its quirkiest one-day events in the past two years. In April 2006, the whole state came to a standstill to watch the old Jamestown Bridge get blown up, with the comical sideline of pandering pols pushing an ACME/Wile E. Coyote-style detonator just before the implosion. Four months after the "big boom," the Iway "bridge float" captivated Rhode Islanders, when the Providence River Bridge was transported by water over Narragansett Bay to its designated resting place. Last month, the R.I. Department of Transportation earned a national innovation award for the bridge float, which was also featured on the History Channel's "Mega Movers" series. Less impressive was the fact that state taxpayers paid $50,000 to name and promote the Iway so newspaper editors and reporters would stop calling the project "The Little Dig." Only in Rhode Island will an inferiority complex cost you five bills.