Downtown Jacksonville’s Main St. Bridge

There’s a bunch of long, high bridges in Jacksonville. One local restaurant even takes its name from this fact, calling itself Seven Bridges after the biggest and most iconic structures.

But people in all the counties that line the banks of the St. Johns River, a broad, northern-flowing body of water, take bridge travel as a part of daily life. So it’s a little unsettling to know that some of our hundreds of bridges don’t pass muster. It’s even worse not to know which ones.

It’s for our own good, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

…inspections have put a handful of state bridges in Northeast Florida in the same broad engineering category as that Minnesota bridge — “structurally deficient” — which means, under the state’s policy, it’s time for immediate action.

…[FDOT bridge inspection chief Keith] Campbell says the Florida Department of Transportation isn’t allowed to tell you how the bridges you drive across every day did on their most recent inspections. And he’s not allowed to say which ones flunked their tests.

Ironically, the state workers says their lips and records are sealed — for your safety.

“After the 9/11 events and with homeland security, all bridge records have become exempt as public documents,” Campbell said.

All bridge records? Including whether or not it’s safe to cross one?

The DOT cites a law, passed in 2002, which states “building plans, blueprints, schematic drawings, and diagrams” are off-limits to be released to the public.

But a local lawyer, Tad Delegate, said that the law isn’t specific enough.

“They’re certainly trying to protect the public,” he said. “I have no doubt about that, but I think they’re reading this too broadly and they’re not limiting themselves to the specific terms of the statute.”

He said there is no wording in the law that says inspection reports cannot be made public.

A local T.V. station has put in a formal request for the information, but so far the FDOT’s only reaction is to lawyer up.