Maryland’s top transportation official on Thursday ordered immediate inspections of 27 aging, state-owned bridges after a chunk of concrete fell on a Prince George’s County woman’s car from the bottom of the Interstate 495 overpass in Morningside… Michael Kreger, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Alabama who has written extensively on the corrosion of bridges and concrete structures, said it’s common for concrete to fall off older bridges in climates where temperatures fluctuate. Marylanders shouldn’t fear driving on bridges built before 1969, he added.
“It doesn’t mean they’re ready to fall all around us,” he said. “But it’s an indication that it’s deteriorating. It’s part of the freeze and thaw cycles. It’s just going to happen.”