Department of Transportation

Status of Railroad Bridge Inspection Program (Follow-Up Review)

In 1994, the Department of Transportation was required by the State Legislature to establish an inventory for all the railroad bridges in New York State and to ensure that each bridge was inspected annually in accordance with safety standards to be developed by the Department. In our prior audit report 99-S-12, we examined the actions taken by the Department in fulfilling these requirements and found that the requirements had yet to be fully met because of changes made to the authorizing legislation, extensions granted by the Legislature for certain requirements, and the time needed for the Department to work with the railroads in developing the specific regulations relating to the requirements. We made a number of recommendations for improving the Department’s oversight of railroad bridges, and in our follow-up review we found that progress had been made in implementing the recommendations.

For a complete copy of Report 2001-F-39 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.