Governor Kathy Hochul announced that 15 State landmarks will be illuminated red Saturday evening in honor of Light the Night for Fallen Firefighters including the Fairport Lift Bridge over the Erie Canal and selfless commitment of the brave men and women we honor this Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend,” Governor Hochul said “We stand with the families and loved ones of the fallen and with all New Yorkers who put their lives on the line every day running towards danger to keep our communities safe.” Light the Night for Fallen Firefighters is recognized nationally to honor the fallen and their families and to recognize National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend MISSOULA — The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) will conduct inspections on 13 bridges along I-90 near Alberton and Superior throughout May each inspection will take one to four days with traffic restricted to one lane and reduced speeds of 35 mph in work zones MDT conducts these regular inspections to ensure bridge safety and reliability in accordance with national bridge inspection standards Click here for updates on width restrictions and current road conditions (WCHS) — Nightly closures are planned for a Kanawha County bridge this week to allow for an inspection The Dunbar Toll Bridge will be closed from 10 p.m according to a social media post from WV-511 Last year, the West Virginia Division of Highways discussed the future of the 70-year-old bridge which has received poor ratings in the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Inventory Highway officials have emphasized the bridge is safe to use and inspections are scheduled regularly Efforts to rehab or rebuild the bridge are expected to start in 2028 The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority is working on the National Transportation Safety Board’s request to figure out how vulnerable the Pell Bridge is to collapse from vessel collisions “We are comfortable that our bridge is very different from the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” Executive Director Lori Caron Silveira said at the RITBA meeting held April 9 “Our situation is different because the Quonset port is not a container port so we do not have ships the size of the Dali that hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge there’s lots of other differences between our bridge and the Francis Scott Key Bridge but of course we are going to respond to the NTSB in a timely manner and we’re going to give them whatever they need to know that we’re comfortable we’ve done all we can to make certain that if a vessel were to hit Nearly a year after the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland collapsed from a container ship collision on March 26, 2024, the National Transportation Safety Board identified 68 bridges across 19 states in need of vulnerability assessments to determine the risk of a vessel collision causing a bridge collapse including the Claiborne Pell Bridge that connects Jamestown to Newport The NTSB’s job is to investigate significant transportation-related incidents, such as plane crashes and railroad collisions, and give recommendations to the agencies overseeing those industries. In its announcement regarding this recommendation NTSB clarifies that this is not an indication that these 68 bridges are “certain to collapse,” but rather that the bridges were designed before the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials established guidance on the acceptable risk threshold for critical and essential bridges it only targeted bridge owners that do not have a current vulnerability assessment In the letter NTSB sent to RITBA on March 20 Chair Jennifer Homendy states that the investigation into the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse revealed “Bridge owners’ lack of awareness of their bridges risk of a catastrophic bridge collapse from vessel collision,” and that there is a “Lack of a risk reduction plan for bridges above the acceptable risk threshold established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.”  The Board asked that RITBA calculate the probability of bridge collapse related to the AASHO threshold and report back with a comprehensive risk reduction plan if the Pell Bridge’s probability is higher than that threshold states the agency had already conducted an internal review of the vulnerability of its bridges in the immediate aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse This review included meetings with the Northeast Marine Pilots Association the state police and local law enforcement as well as a review of current emergency procedures and historical vulnerability assessment data The letter also noted the agency conducted an evaluation of the types and sizes of vessels that navigate around and underneath the Pell Bridge concluding that they are often smaller than the container ship that caused the collapse in Maryland It states the ports serviced by this area of Narragansett Bay the Port of Providence and the Port of Fall River are non-container ports often carrying cargo such as automobiles home heating oil and liquified petroleum gas Additionally, it seems the bridge’s vulnerability to physical impact is not entirely unknown, either. In the 238-page Federal Highways Administration report used in the docket related to NTSB’s report the Pell Bridge (East Passage Narragansett Bay) is identified as not having pier protection but rather that the two towers of the suspension bridge were designed for an “arbitrary” ship impact equal to the effect of a 20,000 ton ship traveling at 3 knots as Silveira noted during the board meeting held April 9 RITBA is tasked with providing NTSB with those specific AAHO calculations Silveira said the board has already identified an engineering firm to do the review Silveira states they have already asked Modjeski and Masters a national bridge engineering firm which RITBA has on its “on-call” contract services list "After the container vessel collided with the Key Bridge we immediately convened a group of stakeholders and examined the risk of a vessel strike to the Newport Pell Bridge," Silveira said in a statement "Our research indicates that the vessels navigating the area are smaller than the container vessel involved in the Key Bridge incident and the design and construction of the main Pell Bridge piers which extend approximately 100 to 150 feet below mean high water constitute additional protective factors." Slade is an underrated Kentucky town hidden away in the Red River Gorge Geological Area The gorge itself is a favorite among rock climbers across the United States but Slade has a lot to see for anyone going on a summer vacation The most visited attraction in Slade is the Natural Bridge State Resort Park visitors can take a skylift or hike up to a natural sandstone bridge birdwatchers can observe woodland warblers There are other fun nature activities to do in Slade such as seeing snakes and reptiles at the Kentucky Reptile Zoo and Captive Born Venom Lab or going on aerial rope courses at Thrillsville Adventure Park If outdoor adventures aren't your cup of tea you just might find Paducah more up your alley artistic hub that has earned its spot as a UNESCO Creative City one can enjoy all manner of artistic wonders The National Quilt Center features exhibits of both old school and avant-garde quilts visitors can also see more than 200 pieces of art at the Yeiser Art Center or learn about Paducah's history within a restored 1876 drugstore at the William Clark Market House Museum If you want to get a little fresh air while looking at art check out the Paducah Wall to Wall Murals by the floodwall These murals were made by famed artist Robert Dafford and are one of the finest examples of public art in Kentucky History buffs will definitely want to spend some time in Harrodsburg and visitors can see a recreation of that settlement at the Old Fort Harrod State Park there is the fort itself with block houses but one can also see a Mansion Museum and the Lincoln Marriage Temple where Abraham Lincoln's parents were wed By driving a few miles outside of downtown Harrodsburg one can bask in the beauty of the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill The Shakers were a charismatic and celibate religious group in the 19th and 20th centuries For anyone looking to walk in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln led the US through its most difficult years during the American Civil War Much of his character was shaped by his humble beginnings which visitors can see firsthand at The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace which has a Symbolic Cabin within the Memorial Building the Knob Creek Tavern Visitor Center and other landmarks to explore from his childhood The town of Hodgenville itself has the Lincoln Museum visitors can enjoy a fun country music show at The Lincoln Jamboree Corbin is one of the most fun towns in Kentucky to visit or stay a while This is in large part due to the many Kentucky treasures travelers can find here One such treasure is a moonbow on the misty falls of the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park A moonbow is a rainbow formed by moonlight that is only visible in a few places on Earth There are also several cute attractions in town the site of the original restaurant set up by none other than Colonel Sanders travelers can play vintage pinball at the Pinball Museum of Corbin or enjoy a live musical performance at The Corbin Arena Bardstown regularly ranks highly in lists of the best vacation spots in Kentucky The reason for this is obvious: Bardstown is the capital of the proud Kentucky tradition of distilling Bourbon whiskey This drink was first made by Baptist preacher Elijah Craig There are a large number of distilleries that offer both samples and tours in Bardstown Bardstown is also a deeply historic town and has several intriguing museums you can't find anywhere else in Kentucky These include the Oscar Getz Museum of Bourbon History the Civil War Museum with one of the largest collections of artifacts from the Western Theater of the War This park features an 1818 Federal Hill mansion which was renamed in honor of Stephen Foster's famous song The mansion has tours and culinary experiences ranging from bourbon to mint julep to lemonade tastings One of the best ways to cool off during the summer is to feel the wind whipping by your face with the windows rolled down in the car or atop a bicycle such as the downtown Redbud Ride or the Cane Creek Wildlife Management Area the Daniel Boone National Forest and Laurel Lake are ideal spots to enjoy nature or go fishing If historic spots are more your cup of tea London has you covered with the Battle Camp Wildcat London offers a lot of family fun at the London Children's Museum and the London Dragway Georgetown stands out among Kentucky towns as the fastest-growing city There are a wide number of Bluegrass experiences here for a summer trip including the wonderful Old Friends Retired Thoroughbred Farm you can interact with retired horses that once raced in the Kentucky Derby Those who want to experience horsepower can see a classic 1988 Camry by taking a tour at the Toyota Kentucky Experience Center This 1857 Greek Revival mansion has 27-foot-high Corinthian columns and was the home of the fashionista and local eccentric Sallie Ward visitors can relax at the Yuko-En on the Elkhorn a Japanese-style garden in the heart of the Bluegrass state When planning a summer vacation in Kentucky these eight cool towns give you a lot to choose from You can enjoy Kentucky hospitality at Bardstown distilleries go walking through a Shaker village in Harrodsburg or go hiking up a beautiful sandstone arch in Slade the multiple mansions within these towns are a perfect place to cool off and see beautiful architecture These eight cool towns will ensure you have a great 2025 summer vacation photos and original descriptions © 2025 worldatlas.com ROCKBRIDGE CO., Va. – UPDATE: Due to widespread flu and illness among students and staff, Natural Bridge Elementary School will be closed on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. All other Rockbridge County Public Schools will remain open and operate on their regular schedule. Rockbridge County Public Schools announced on Monday that Natural Bridge Elementary School will be closed on Tuesday due to widespread flu and illness among students and staff. Have the day's biggest stories arrive in your inbox every day at 8 p.m. The announcement said that the only school affected is Natural Bridge Elementary School. All other Rockbridge County Public Schools will open on time. Copyright 2025 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved. Duncan Weigand joined WSLS 10’s digital team in June 2024, weeks after graduating from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s in communication studying multimedia journalism and a cognate in marketing. Click here to take a moment and familiarize yourself with our Community Guidelines TV Listings Email Newsletters RSS Feeds Contests and Rules Contact Us Internships at WSLS 10 Careers at WSLS 10 Closed Captioning / Audio Description Public File Current EEO Report Terms of Use Privacy Policy Do Not Sell My Info FCC Applications Copyright © 2025 WSLS.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group — The "chess of card games," is how card players from around the country at the National Bridge Tournament describe the game of bridge this game may not be your definition of exciting "I think people assume automatically the only old people enjoy this game but that's simply not true," said Harold Singleton III a bridge player and competitor in the tournament But this isn't just your grandma's card game and I would tell seniors that one of the primary advantages is it's brain exercise,” said Gloria Christler the National President of the American Bridge Association And brain exercise through bridge has proven health benefits “It helps to increase the dendrites and the synapses in your brain,” said Thea Johnson the Marketing Specialist National Bridge Association “It deters or delays onset of dementia and cognitive decline And these bridge players are looking to pay forward these benefits “Most of the bridge organizations actually raise money for the Alzheimer's Foundation because the research supports how beneficial playing bridge is for older people in particular as it relates to your cognitive health,” Johnson said bridge is a bridge to better brain health and connection to others Celebrate Engineer’s Week with a hands-on exploration of bridge engineering Participants will first learn the basics of bridge design and the science of trusses They’ll then build their own popsicle stick truss bridges experimenting with different shapes and structures to apply key engineering principles and create a strong Note: Tickets cost $15 per child and include admission to the Museum exhibitions Adults do not need to purchase tickets to accompany their child to the workshop but will need to purchase admission to access the exhibitions 10 am–4 pmClosed Thanksgiving and Christmas $7/Youth & SeniorsFree access to the Great Hall and Museum Shop info@nbm.org Contact: Grand Canyon Public Affairs Office Grand Canyon National Park will reopen the Bright Angel Trail and Campground for public use beginning May 15 Multiple inner canyon areas were closed last fall for Transcanyon Waterline project construction activities The Phantom Ranch Canteen and Lodge reopened on schedule between River Resthouse and the South Kaibab Trail junction between the Tonto Trail West junction to Plateau Point The Bright Angel Campground large group sites will remain closed until Oct 1 The small group campsites will remain open Additional construction needs to be completed during the May 15-September 30 closure period including maintenance and reinforcement work to Silver Bridge and installing new connecting water pipe and conduit New waterline and electrical lines along the Plateau Point and River Trails will also be excavated and installed Trail users will need to use Black Bridge through September 30 to cross the Colorado River Bright Angel Trail will be open from the South Rim trailhead to Pipe Creek Beach for use up and down the trail; there will be no access to Phantom Ranch via the River Trail Hikers may traverse between the Bright Angel Trail and the South Kaibab Trail via the Tonto Trail Commercial river trip exchanges will occur at Pipe Creek Beach and private river trip exchanges will occur at Boat Beach through May 14 Commercial and private river trip users may use either beach for exchanges beginning May 15 Rim-to-rim hikers may use a South to North Kaibab Trail route but due to the terrain and water availability hikers are strongly advised to bring additional water to prevent heat-related illnesses and take frequent rest breaks in the shade Hikers and backpackers attempting rigorous distances through the inner canyon are strongly encouraged to be self-reliant and to understand their own physical limitations to prevent emergency situations for themselves and responders Be aware that efforts to assist hikers may be delayed due to limited staff Waterline work is progressing in the Bright Angel Campground and between Havasupai Gardens and Tonto Trail West While Phantom Ranch Canteen and Lodge were closed fire hydrants and water filling stations in the area Construction will continue throughout the year on the South Rim and Phantom Ranch water treatment plants. More information about the Transcanyon Waterline and the status of the project is available here The construction areas and schedule are subject to change, and visitors are encouraged to check the park’s website for the current operational status Additional closures are expected this fall through spring of 2026 and information will be published as soon as the schedule is confirmed Download the NPS app to navigate the parks on the go A portion of Mount Rainier National Park will be inaccessible due to an indefinite bridge closure outside of the park On April 14, the Washington State Department of Transportation announced that the State Route 165 Carbon River Fairfax Bridge is closed until further notice showed new deterioration on steel supports in the preliminary findings of a recent inspection The bridge provided access to areas of the national park that are no longer accessible to the public Budget cuts and bathrooms: An ongoing struggle at US national parks The single-lane bridge on Route 165 led to the Mowich Lake Entrance and the Carbon River Ranger Station in the northwest corner of the park The National Park Service map shows the Mowich Lake Road is closed restricting access to the Paul Peak Trailhead the Mountain Meadows and the Wonderland Trail The bridge closure follows three previously imposed weight restrictions on the bridge since 2009 The average age of the state-owned bridges in Washington is 51 years "There is no funding available to replace the bridge at this point," the release stated "Years of deferred preservation work due to limited preservation funding resulted in the updated weight restrictions and now the indefinite closure." USA TODAY reached out to the National Park Service for this story Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social The Benton County Road Department has reopened the Mount Zion Road/Columbia Hollow Bridge and the East Gaiche Road Bridge on the county's west side The Mount Zion/Columbia Hollow Road complete bridge replacement cost approximately $947,000 The East Gaiche Road complete bridge replacement cost approximately $500,000 Both projects were funded entirely by Benton County The Mount Zion Road/Columbia Hollow bridge was part of the 2017 county bridge plan to replace 15 bridges deemed structurally deficient by the Arkansas Department of Transportation The bridge crosses Columbia Creek on Mount Zion Road in the Decatur area The previous structure was a single-lane bridge that was over 50 years old and had a low load limit single-span bridge to provide better flow of water in Columbia Hollow Creek and is wide enough for two lanes of traffic and is designed to accommodate all legal loads The East Gaiche Road bridge was replaced after flooding resulted in the loss of the bridge in 2021 It has remained closed since it was damaged The bridge is south of Northwest Arkansas National Airport in Highfill The old bridge was too narrow and was built on shallow foundations that were subject to scour and undermining during rain events single-span bridge built on a pile foundation that is anchored into bedrock The two final bridges from the list of structurally deficient bridges will either be completed or enter the construction phase by the end of 2025 The Coon Hollow Bridge replacement will go out to bid later this year Benton County maintains approximately 100 bridges as part of the Arkansas Department of Transportation National Bridge Inspection Program This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2025 audio and/or video material shall not be published rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use The AP will not be held liable for any delays errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing – If you’re looking for something fun for the kiddos to do this spring the Natural Bridge State Park is set to hold its annual Kids Fishing Day next month kids interested in fishing can explore the joys of reeling in a big one Admission will be free for children 12 and younger from 7 a.m to noon and will cost $6 per child once Kids Fishing Day is over at noon admission is $9 per person for those 13 and older but each kid will need to have at least one adult present if they are participating in the event The event will also feature educational crafts and roaming rangers Accessing Cedar Creek Trail requires navigating a stairway with 137 steps Accommodations for those with accessibility needs can be made upon request at the park’s visitor center or by calling 540-291-1326 For more information about Kids Fishing Day, visit virginiastateparks.gov/events or call 540-254-0795. Contact: Jason Collins An official website of the United States government BRIDGES and NABT partnered to bridge today’s problem solvers to tomorrow’s energy future!  Download the presentation and listen to the recording. Educators were introduced to bioenergy national laboratory research that can be integrated into classrooms Created by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory BRIDGES is a bioenergy education curriculum that includes four case studies covering synthetic aviation fuel (SAF) and waste-to-energy potential. These case studies are designed to introduce students to exciting careers in the bioenergy industry This BRIDGES workshop focused on the Regional Feedstocks: Are They the Answer to Achieving a Net Zero Future which evaluates regional biomass and waste resources for conversion to transportation biofuels Educators discovered how BRIDGES case studies can provide opportunities to understand culturally responsive agriculture and energy practices while increasing awareness about environmental and community impacts.  panelists from DOE and the national laboratories: ROCKBRIDGE CO., Va. – The Natural Bridge Elementary school will be closed Thursday RCPS announced in a release Wednesday. The school will be closed due to widespread flu and illness among students and staff. RCPS said that only Natural Bridge Elementary is affected and all other Rockbridge County Public Schools will open on time. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience Ships are highly likely to collide with major bridges across the United States with potentially catastrophic collisions happening every few years according to preliminary findings of an urgent assessment of the nation's bridge vulnerability following the 2024 Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Though ship strikes should be extremely rare—and bridge design standards stipulate that the annual chances of a bridge collapse from ship collision should be less than 1 in 10,000—some of the nation's busiest bridges will likely be hit by ships within our lifetime according to the findings released today by Johns Hopkins University Long Bridge outside New Orleans and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge are likely to be hit by a ship within about 20 years "With this investigation we wanted to know if what happened to the Key Bridge was a rare occurrence. Was it an aberration? We found it's really not," said Michael Shields a Johns Hopkins engineer specializing in risk assessment and lead investigator of the National Science Foundation–supported study it's something we should expect to happen every few years." Video credit: Patrick Ridgely / Johns Hopkins University A year ago, Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after a direct hit by a massive container ship Believing chances were high for another such incident and that risk to the Key Bridge amid modern shipping traffic had been underestimated Johns Hopkins engineers immediately launched a risk assessment for U.S The team aimed to estimate the actual chances a large ship would hit the country's most significant bridges Coast Guard data—logs detailing the precise location and status of every ship traveling through the country's waters on a minute-by-minute basis They cross-referenced the geolocated shipping information with port data and bridge data from the National Bridge Inventory to determine which large ships passed under bridges along with ship aberrancy rates adopted from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials the researchers estimated the probability of very large ships colliding with the piers of major bridges across the U.S The results revealed stark vulnerabilities for many bridges Several bridges could expect a major ship collision—a collision strong enough to cause catastrophic damage or collapse—at least once every 20 to 50 years Many others are likely to sustain a ship strike within 100 years The Key Bridge would have been among the 10 most vulnerable bridges in the country They predicted it would have likely been hit by a ship within 48 years The bridge was 46 years old when it fell—and it had sustained a minor hit from a ship previously we want the chances of a collision strong enough to take down the bridge to be less than one in 10,000 in a given year One in 100 is extremely high," Shields said "If I look at the San Francisco Bay Bridge we're likely to see a major collision once every 22 years We want that number to be thousands of years Some bridges with considerable traffic from large ships did not make the list because their piers are safely on land Those include Minnesota's Duluth Lift Bridge and the Vincent Thomas Bridge in California what happens in the event of a collision is very different from bridge to bridge While a large ship collision would not necessarily result in a bridge collapse Shields said it would almost certainly cause irreparable damage and very likely cause at least a partial collapse "If one of these massive ships hits a bridge Image credit: Dunncon13 / Wikimedia Commons the critical thing is to keep ship traffic away from the piers and to outfit them with robust protections including dolphins and other structures that keep ships from approaching the piers "There's still a lot of uncertainty in predicting the frequency of ship collisions even with the best data we have," Shields said "But the important point is not whether it will occur every 17 years or every 75 years The team included structural engineer Ben Schafer, the Willard and Lillian Hackerman Professor; Rachel Sangree a structural engineer and teaching professor with bridge inspection experience; Promit Chakroborty and Damir Akchurin PhD students in Civil and Systems Engineering; Adwait Sharma postdoctoral fellow in Civil and Systems Engineering; Johns Hopkins undergraduate and master's students Diran Jimenez and Ololade Akinbamilowo; and Morgan State undergraduate Esther Ezeigbo Posted in Science+Technology Tagged civil engineering, infrastructure Last January, a team of cavers led by a paleontologist from The University of Texas at Austin rappelled into two deep chambers at Natural Bridge Caverns to retrieve rare fossil finds: the bones of two small prehistoric cats the bones of the Natural Bridge Cats are beginning to reveal their secrets Researchers have determined their age – about 11,500 years old – and have successfully extracted fragments of ancient DNA They have also determined the cats are not a common bobcat “This puts these cats into a Neotropical group Only ocelots are left in Texas,” said John Moretti a doctoral student at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences leading the research “This gets us into a really interesting group of cats – including a species that is now possibly extinct.” Although the researchers don’t yet know what species of small cat slinked through the cave’s passageways thousands of years ago Moretti is working with UT Assistant Professor Melissa Kemp who is part of the Jackson School and the College of Natural Sciences to apply state-of-the-art methods to prepare the ancient DNA fragments for sequencing that can definitively identify the cats He is also conducting a systematic comparison of the bones from the Natural Bridge Cats to bones from Neotropical cats living today Discovering the cats’ identity could reverberate beyond the Texas cavern and popular tourist destination The Natural Bridge Cats could serve as a literal skeleton key – providing a reference that could help with identifying the bones of ancient small cats around the world “They are prompting us to revisit questions about old specimens that have just been sitting on the shelf,” said Moretti there’s not an impetus to wrestle with these problems.” The remains of the Natural Bridge Cats were found in two chambers called the Dungeon and the Inferno Room which are almost a mile from the current entrance of the cavern and 200 feet underground Portions of the Dungeon cat were discovered in 1963 and brought to the UT collections for study and safe keeping cavers discovered more cat bones in the Dungeon and a brand-new cat specimen in the Inferno Room The openings into those two pit-like chambers are surrounded by small muddy pawprints that indicate it’s possible the cats fell into the chambers from above – and couldn’t get out we’ve wondered about these bones – then we discovered the second cat including how these cats could have gotten so deep in the cave,” said Brad Wuest president and CEO of Natural Bridge Caverns “Discovery and exploration is at the heart of everything we do here at the caverns Being involved with John and the team at UT Austin in this process of understanding more about the Natural Bridge Cats has been both rewarding and fascinating.” Moretti led a recovery mission to bring the cats back to the surface after thousands of years underground Research over the past year has helped to uncover some of the cats’ secrets Moretti matched the newly discovered bones in the Dungeon to the specimen sitting in the UT collections the past 60 years showing that the two sets of bones came from the same skeleton And two different dating techniques have placed the age of the cats in the ballpark of about 11,500 years ago Radiocarbon dating on collagen extracted from the bones has the specimen at slightly older than that age Uranium-thorium dating led by Jackson School scientists Staci Lowey and Alex Janelle on flowstone covering part of the specimen has it slightly younger But most important for figuring out the identity of the ancient cats is the successful extraction of ancient DNA the DNA is in rough shape after spending thousands of years in a cave But Moretti is hopeful about eventually being able to get a species identification DNA breaks down over time into smaller and smaller pieces,” Moretti said “There’s still information stored in those fragments but it takes a lot of work to reconstruct and read the genetic code again.” The DNA and collagen samples came from the Dungeon cat The Inferno Room cat did not have DNA or collagen preserved Moretti thinks that what’s learned about one cat can be applied to the other “They’re the same shape and size,” Moretti said “I feel confident that what we learn about the age and molecular identity of one skeleton is applicable to the other.” Having two ancient cats of the same kind found together – not to mention with pawprints nearby – is incredibly rare The cat from the Dungeon is the most complete specimen of a small Neotropical cat from the last ice age in North America And together the two specimens make up a nearly complete skeleton with all its major parts in place If the Natural Bridge Cats can be definitively identified as a certain species their bones could help with classifying other ancient cat fossils – which are notoriously few in number and look very similar to one another the bones brought back from the Dungeon in 1963 were identified in the UT collection as belonging to a bobcat until the additional bones brought back by Moretti disproved that The new bones are also raising interest around an old hypothesis that the Dungeon specimen is an extinct species of margay called a ‘river cat.’ The hypothesis was proposed by Lars Werdelin a world-renowned expert on extinct cats based out of the Swedish Museum of Natural History who examined the bones while conducting a national survey of small wildcat fossils in 1985 Moretti is closely comparing the bones of the Natural Bridge Cats to skeletons from margays and other Neotropical cats on loan to UT from other institutions to identify what’s natural variation versus a distinguishing anatomical feature The research team is also deploying a custom-built imaging device designed to capture high-resolution Data obtained from those images will provide a way of testing if those ancient paw prints were made by the Dungeon and Inferno Room cats But until the DNA sequencing results are in he expects the Natural Bridge Cats – who are now together in the UT collections – to continue keeping their identity a secret  For more information, contact: Anton Caputo, Jackson School of Geosciences, 210-602-2085;  Monica Kortsha At the current pace of repairs and replacement, the 2,781 bridges the state of Oregon owns will have to last 900 years before they are all replaced, according to the state’s 2024 Bridge Condition Report and Tunnel Data The Oregon Department of Transportation said in the annual report that it has funding to replace about three bridges per year Two bridges Oregon owns — the South Yamhill River Bridge over the Highway 18 McMinnville Spur and the bridge over Salt Creek on Highway 153 just west of Amity — were replaced in 2024 The report says 60% of bridges in Oregon were built before 1973 The average age of the state's bridges is 40 years The normal lifespan of a bridge is considered to be between 75-100 years About 1,000 bridges in Oregon were built between 1958 and 1973 — an average of 63 per year — with funding from the 1956 National Interstate and Defense Highways Act The state has replaced 149 of those bridges so far The National Bridge Performance rates the deck on 14% of bridges in Oregon as good it is given a load restriction for the maximum weight of vehicles or it is repaired so it can stay open Those defects can be determined through a routine inspection Sixteen bridges had restrictions placed on them in 2024 There are currently 93 bridges on the list which means they have a major defect that is in urgent need of repair the Hess Creek Bridge on Highway 219 between Newberg and St Paul was listed as very poor condition after an inspector found rot in three of the timber columns supporting the bridge The state repaired the bridge in 2024 with steel supports The report says more than 200 bridges in Oregon include timber in their construction Most of the bridges made of wood are weight limited and the state spends more than $1 million a year to replace deteriorated wood A crash in April 2024 on the Yamhill River Bridge on Highway 99W east of McMinnville took out a section of railing and highlighted the need to replace the bridge built in 1921 The South Yamhill River Bridge on Highway 18 southeast of McMinnville has a deteriorating concrete surface on its deck but the entire deck will need to be replaced A portion of the Interstate 5 bridge over Elk Creek south of Cottage Grove failed in 2021 requiring a 90-foot repair in the right slow lane another portion of the concrete on the slow lane failed The American Road & Transportation Builders Association lists three bridges in Marion and Polk counties in its category of most traveled Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or choose from a link below to look further Looking for a job posting? Visit our Careers section here The page you're trying to access could not be found or is no longer available Looking for a job posting? Visit our Careers section here Our principles overview Three simple principles to transform transportation #1 | Design for safety over speed slower street designs in cities and towns to reduce traffic fatalities #2 | Fix it first Focus funding on repairing and maintaining existing roads and bridges before expanding new infrastructure #3 | Invest in the rest Invest in diverse transportation options beyond highways to improve accessibility and quality of life All insights & resources Stay informed and connected with the latest research and analysis Read our blog Reconnecting Communities projects are under threat. Here is what’s at stake and where: 100 days in, President Trump’s actions on transportation leave much to be desired the National Transportation Safety Board is urging the owners of 68 bridges across the U.S to assess their vulnerability to collisions This moment also presents an opportunity to fundamentally rethink the state of the practice for assessing the health of our nation’s bridges and ensure agencies target taxpayer funds to the bridges that most need repair In the days after the Key Bridge collapse, questions were swirling on the state of repair of our bridges and what could be done differently to avoid a bridge collapse. But in the year since, the number of bridges classified as in poor condition has ticked down less than 1 percent according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. This is not the first bridge collapse in recent history: The Silver Bridge collapse, between West Virginia and Ohio in 1967, brought about the development of the National Bridge Inspection Standards. After the 1980 Skyway Bridge collapse infrastructure design was altered for future projects to create structural redundancy and fortification But are our leaders motivated to take similarly bold action today A year after the Key Bridge collapse, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is asking states to revisit collision vulnerability assessments of 68 bridges scattered across 19 states Army Corps of Engineers provide guidance to bridge owners on how to reduce the risk of vessel collision if the guidance is not forthcoming in the near term However there is a broader problem: several past bridge collapses were the result of problems undetected by bridge inspections or from DOTs failing to heed the problems identified. In the case of the 2007 I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, the NTSB determined that the bridge failed because of design errors and bridge modifications that adversely affected bridge load capacity These critical flaws were not caught by bridge inspections and the NTSB recommended changes to the inspection regime Join our email list to stay up to date with our work and connect to advocacy opportunities Transportation for America is a national non-profit working to create a transportation system that safely, affordably, and accessibly connects everyone to jobs, services, and opportunities through diverse travel options. T4America is a program of Smart Growth America Start here Our principles Our insights and resources Data hub Contact Donate Become a member Get started with advocacy X Facebook YouTube Flickr (WSET) — The case between Rockbridge County and the former owners of the Natural Bridge Zoo wrapped up Wednesday in Rockbridge County Circuit Court the Attorney General's Office seized nearly 100 animals from the zoo on allegations of animal cruelty and neglect a jury decided that the county was justified in the seizure of 71 of those animals After nearly ten months of heated litigation Judge Christopher Russell took up one final issue Wednesday He decided that all four giraffes on Natural Bridge Zoo property are set to be moved as soon as Thursday morning The prosecution argued that if they don't move the giraffes soon ABC13 spoke exclusively with Gretchen Mogensen the current owner of the zoo and manager at the time of the seizure She said she's disappointed in the judge's decision "It was obviously extremely disappointing Not just because of the giraffes having to leave because we are obviously emotionally attached to them but also that the judge disregarded the safety and the risks that are associated with moving these animals It seemed like he could actually understand our side but because they were owned by the county he just went with their decision regardless We do have two females that are very heavily pregnant and it is a tremendous risk to be moving them and we don't even know where they're going to be going how they're going to be handling them These animals have been with us for over a decade." The former owners are required to pay nearly $200,000 for the cost of care of the seized animals Mogensen said the past ten months have been extremely hard on the zoo Mogensen said she doesn't believe the case was handled correctly in Rockbridge County Court and they plan to appeal Defense attorneys on the case tell ABC13 the appeal process could take anywhere from eight months to more than a year they'll point back to multiple areas where the case went wrong including the lack of a hearing regarding what they said was a 4th Amendment violation in the seizure They also said the code section the AG's Office used to conduct the search was for companion animals not zoo animals that are part of a business The Attorney General’s Office declined to comment after the hearing but they said a criminal investigation is ongoing The Francis Scott Key Bridge was 30 times more susceptible to ship strikes than it should have been the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday and the risk of a similar disaster at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is still unknown because it has never been studied expressed frustration with the Maryland Transportation Authority and other bridge owners around the country in a press conference held in Washington The NTSB recommended that 68 American bridges be assessed for the possibility of collapse from vessel collision On March 26, 2024, the Dali container ship lost power and knocked down the Key Bridge killing six construction workers who had been working on the span Homendy said her agency has been “sounding the alarm.” The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. 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Guidance from the national bridge code in 1991 and again in 2009 recommended bridge owners assess their structures — many of which were built years ago when cargo ships were much smaller — for risk of ship strikes dozens of bridge owners never completed those assessments “The Maryland Transportation Authority never ran the calculation on the Key Bridge they still haven’t on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge,” Homendy said “Had they ran the calculation on the Francis Scott Key Bridge the MDTA would have been aware that the [risk] was almost 30 times greater than the risk threshold.” That acceptable risk threshold is established by the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials The transportation authority said Friday that its risk evaluation was underway last fall when the NTSB requested its results Homendy said it was “frustrating” that the transportation authority did not have the necessary vessel data to share which would have enabled the NTSB to conduct its own risk assessment of the Key Bridge We had to develop that data ourselves with the help of our federal partners at the Federal Highway Administration,” she said which require in-depth mathematical formulas it remains a mystery how much danger various bridges are in one other Maryland structure appeared on the NTSB’s list of 68 bridges that require assessment: the Chesapeake City Bridge — a span built in 1948 over the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal that car-carrying ships often squeeze through on their way to the Port of Baltimore was built several decades ago and does not have the safety features of modern structures Ships transiting under the Bay Bridge travel even faster than they do when approaching the Key Bridge both spans of the Bay Bridge have wider main spans than the original Key Bridge meaning its piers are farther from the shipping channel The transportation authority last year said it was evaluating the addition of physical pier protection at the Bay Bridge and shared an initial budget for a $145 million project In a statement to The Baltimore Banner Thursday afternoon, the authority said it is “working with outside bridge experts to evaluate the pier protection systems and vessel transit procedures” for both the Bay Bridge and the new Key Bridge it has spent $175 million on safety and security projects at the Bay Bridge the authority said it is reviewing the NTSB’s recommendations and will provide an update to the federal agency “within 30 days which will include any action we intend to take based on our active evaluation of the pier protection systems and vessel transit procedures of the Bay Bridge.” Homendy said the NTSB will soon release over 1,000 pages of “investigative material.” Their final report into the disaster is expected this fall Welcome to The Banner's subscriber-only commenting community. 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If the problem persists, please contact customer service at 443-843-0043 or customercare@thebaltimorebanner.com you’ll find Tonto Natural Bridge State Park home to the world’s largest natural travertine bridge you won't find a bridge like this anywhere else in the world which honestly might not sound like a lot to most people but you do have to come here and experience it to believe it You either have to go to the edge of the canyon to the viewpoints to see it Tonto Natural Bridge was formed by a spring on the east side of Pine Canyon bringing forth a lot of water and calcium carbonate that was redeposited across the canyon it still comes from that spring that originally formed the bridge,” said Jackson it's flowing at a much slower rate than it was to form the bridge but it continues to help deposit calcium carbonate helping to maintain the integrity of the bridge You’ll be climbing over boulders and rocks so make sure to wear sturdy shoes and take it slow you can enjoy viewpoints at the top of the park to see the bridge “Our longest trail is about a mile and a half long and through the bridge but also the most beautiful part,” said Jackson “We definitely want everyone to come experience to the bridge There are people from all over the world that come to experience the bridge Tonto Natural Bridge State Park is located at Nf-583A Click here to learn more Report a typo ROCKBRIDGE CO., Va. – Natural Bridge Elementary School will be closed on Friday due to widespread flu and illness among students and staff, Rockbridge County Public Schools announced Thursday. RCPS also stated that Natural Bridge Elementary is the only school in the county affected, and all other schools will open on time. A portion of US 40 (National Road – Playground Bridge)  Motorists are advised to reduce speed and expect slight delays.  Inclement weather or unforeseen circumstances could change the project schedule.​ marks the 57th anniversary of the collapse of the Silver Bridge which connected the communities of Point Pleasant The bridge collapsed without warning at 4:58 p.m. as many were scrambling to complete their Christmas shopping The tragedy led to the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 which established a National Bridge Inspection Program which created bridge inspection standards still in use today “The unexpected tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge on December 15 was an alarming wake-up call for bridge owners across the nation that our infrastructure was getting older and bridge conditions needed to be assessed on a routine schedule and in a systematic way and a large group of folks needed to be trained and educated as to what to look for and how it pertained to public safety,” said Tracy Brown State Bridge Engineer for the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) officials will gather at the site of the former bridge approach on Sixth Street in Point Pleasant to commemorate the 46 people killed in the bridge collapse A bell will be rung and names read for each of those who lost their lives on the bridge 57 years ago. The collapse of the Silver Bridge led directly to the standardized federal National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) that all states and jurisdictions are required by law to follow “The entire program is founded upon the safety of the public which is paramount in everything we do,” said Brown I use that terrible event to illustrate just how important our bridge safety inspection program is Our bridge safety inspection program allows us to discover issues before they have the chance to become big problems or safety concerns and to act proactively instead of reactively.” According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) West Virginia has one of the most effective bridge inspection programs in the country for the state’s approximately 7,200 bridges every bridge in the state is subject to detailed inspections at least every two years a special bridge inspection on the Jennings Randolph Bridge in Chester discovered minor cracking in the T-1 steel beams that make up the bridge and the bridge quickly returned to service a special bridge inspection on the 31st Street Bridge in Huntington led to the discovery of minor deterioration in some strands of wire in two of the 62 cables that hold up the bridge Repairs were quickly made with traffic still on one lane of the bridge and engineers were able to remove a 20-ton weight limit that had been placed on the span. Brown said the state’s bridge inspection program is like going for a medical checkup. “I doubt many people enjoy visiting a doctor but if there is a health issue it is best to catch something early when there are more treatment alternatives available to hopefully have an easy “If we check on our bridges routinely by inspecting them thoroughly and on a specific interval we will catch these issues early and be able to address them more easily and at a lower cost.” the WVDOT has made great strides in improving the health of its bridges The agency has adopted a 10-year bridge maintenance plan using sophisticated computer software to track the inspection history and health of every single bridge in the state. The plan has allowed the WVDOT to make informed data-driven decisions about what bridges to fix and when fixing a bridge has become more expensive than replacing it with a new structure. “Before we were taking most of our money and replacing bad bridges with it,” Brown said That’s not usually the most efficient use of our funding in the long run.“Today we run our data through the bridge management system to maximize our benefits for the least amount of cost,” Brown said “The bridge management system gives us the best bang for our buck.” And it’s all directly traceable to the Silver Bridge. “Each year I always think about how close it is to the Christmas holidays,” Brown said “There would never be a good time for something like this to happen but Christmas to me is supposed to be about family and spending time with the ones you love and care about Many families back in 1967 unfortunately didn’t get that opportunity. “This tragedy should never be forgotten and we should use it as a reason to reach forward and try harder in everything we do so that no one will ever have to experience anything like it again,” Brown said you do whatever it takes to ensure the public’s safety.” The Tri-State Alert is a News Talk 103.7 FM publication.  Any views or opinions expressed in this publication are of the host author or group and not the publication, owner(s) AI technology assists in content creation on this site; verify independently for accuracy Privacy Policy This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page but it lists six "older bridges with safety concerns and extensive repairs." On the list is the I-5 northbound bridge over Elk Creek which ODOT said has had "repeated concrete driving surface failures." ODOT noted that this bridge was built in 1953 and carries over 11,000 vehicles daily It also noted that portions of the roadway failed in 2021 and 2024 and attached a photo of sunlight shining through a hole in the road from under the bridge A bridge's normal lifespan is between 75 and 100 years The National Bridge Performance rates the deck on 14% of Oregon's bridges as good which means they have a major defect that urgently needs repair The Interstate 5 bridge over Elk Creek required a 90-foot repair in the right slow lane after the 2021 failure and further repairs after the October 2024 failure Paul was listed as in very poor condition after an inspector found rot in three of the timber columns supporting the bridge The report says more than 200 bridges in Oregon are constructed using timber Most of the wood bridges are weight-limited and the state spends more than $1 million a year to replace deteriorated wood A crash in April 2024 on the Yamhill River Bridge on Highway 99W east of McMinnville took out a section of railing and highlighted the need to replace the bridge Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached by email at atorres@registerguard.com, on X @alanfryetorres, or on Reddit at u/AlfrytRG.