The collapse of the Lakeview Drive Bridge in Washington County on Dec. 27 has proven to be a blessing for Butler County. The Washington County collapse was the basis for new, closer scrutiny of the Route 8 bridge over Route 422, due to the fact that both spans are of the same design. That stepped-up scrutiny exposed deficiencies with the Route 8 bridge that will have to be addressed.

Apparently, whatever work is deemed necessary will be carried out this summer. In the meantime, new traffic patterns are in effect on the span.

That is the good news. What might not be so good are the questions that the situation involving the two bridges evokes:

Are the state's bridge-inspection efforts really as thorough and effective as they should be and, if not, will there be an attempt to upgrade them?

The Washington County span, which collapsed onto Interstate 70 not far from the highway's south junction with Interstate 79, was inspected in March 2004 and was visually inspected again in August 2005. It is unsettling that those two inspections failed to detect the presence of the conditions — or hints of those conditions — that led to the December failure. Serious deterioration doesn't happen in just a week or month.

Because of that, motorists who use Route 8 north of the City of Butler are justified in wondering whether, if the I-70 incident hadn't occurred, Routes 8 and 422 might someday have faced an occurrence like the one 48 days ago. The Route 8 bridge passes over Route 422.

Richard Hogg, the state Department of Transportation's District 10 executive, said during a visit to Butler County last month that bridges in the district, which comprises Butler, Armstrong, Clarion, Indiana and Jefferson counties, are inspected every other year. That is no small task, considering that the annual inspection agenda consists of about 800 spans.

But as with the I-70 span, it's difficult to fathom that the deterioration now of concern regarding the Route 8 bridge happened overnight — and it's reasonable to conclude that there should have been some evidence to trigger notice and concern prior to the I-70 collapse.

That is not to imply that the bridge, in its current state, poses a serious immediate danger to the thousands of vehicles that pass over and under it daily. Shawn Houck, a District 10 spokesman, expressed PennDOT inspectors' opinion that the span remains safe, negating the need for weight limits.

However, PennDOT was correct in immediately implementing the new traffic patterns at the bridge site as the state transportation agency prepares for the remedial work. And, whether or not prompted by what happened in Washington County, PennDOT also was right in earlier this year focusing more attention on Butler's Picklegate Crossing bridge, which was damaged by a truck last July when the truck, carrying a large cargo, missed the ramp that would have taken the rig around, not under, the Picklegate span.

An inspection of the span determined a worsening problem at the site of the accident, necessitating a speedup for the repairs and the closing of part of the bridge until those repairs are carried out.

Regarding the Route 8 span north of the city, that bridge is believed to have a significant advantage over the Washington County bridge. The local bridge has a concrete deck that is tied in to the structure. The Washington County span had an asphalt deck that was installed on top of concrete supports.

But inspections made in late January determined that two interior beams in the middle of the local span showed similar wear to what was discovered at the Washington County site.

The deterioration at both spans is believed to have resulted from water and road salt.

If the bridge woes don't reveal any problems with PennDOT's bridge-inspection process, the problems at least represent a significant educational exercise that should positively guide the department's future inspection efforts in regard to the bridges for which it is responsible.

Pennsylvania is ranked third-worst in the nation in terms of the conditions of its bridges, above only Oklahoma and Rhode Island. Allen Biehler, state secretary of transportation, and Gary Hoffman, PennDOT deputy secretary for highway administration, said the I-70 bridge failure was "a rare occurrence" that fell through PennDOT's safety net of checks and balances, because the corrosion was concealed within a concrete beam.

But that failure was a blessing for Butler nonetheless that will prevent much more serious disruptions for motorists than what they will have to endure this summer when the Route 8 bridge repairs are carried out.

— J.R.K.