Report: St. Louis bridge deteriorating before fatal crash

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A state inspection report shows that a St. Louis bridge's concrete railing was deteriorating before a car struck it and caused a chunk of concrete to fall, killing a driver below.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that city officials on Wednesday released a 2017 report from the Missouri Department of Transportation. The report called the underside of the bridge "basically intolerable requiring high priority of replacement."

The report gave the bridge the worst rating possible before the structure would need to be shut down.

Structurally deficient bridges aren't necessarily considered unsafe or likely to collapse. The report's classification indicates load-bearing parts of the bridge had been damaged and required significant maintenance.

A woman crashed into the bridge Monday. The impact caused concrete to fall onto a car below the bridge being driven by 58-year-old Janet Torrisi-Mokwa.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com

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