Hudson Valley Media Group Launches Comprehensive Bridge Safety Website

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y., Aug. 7, 2007 -- The Hudson Valley Media Group (parent organization of the Times Herald-Record) is proud to announce the launch of its new recordonline.com website section on Hudson Valley bridge safety: http://www.recordonline.com/bridges

This comprehensive section, created in the days following the tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis, MN, includes a searchable database of more than 5,000 bridges from the following twelve counties: Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester. New York City bridge and overpass information is also available.

Accessible information includes, but is not limited to: superstructure condition, deck condition, approximate location, sufficiency ratings, year the bridge was built and overall bridge quality. There is also information relating to whether bridges span a body of water or intersect with another highway or roadway.

"Our primary goal for this special online database was to provide a unique opportunity for readers, who might be seeking accurate and detailed safety information about bridges and overpasses in their region," said Patrick Mullen, Times Herald-Record New Media Director.

"Travel safety is of the utmost importance these days and we have a responsibility to our readers to provide unique online tools, full of accurate and credible information. More importantly, however, creating a comprehensive database of this nature allows users fast access to only the most valuable, relevant and current information available."

Information populated on recordonline.com/bridges is gathered from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory database, which lists structural evaluations and codes for all bridges in the United States. This includes bridges over highways and railroads. It also highlights pedestrian-bicycle bridges, overpasses and those designated as historically significant. Data on the website includes inspection findings as current as December, 2006.

The Times Herald-Record and recordonline.com are published by the Hudson Valley Media Group and both are part of Ottaway Newspapers Inc., the local media group of Dow Jones. Recordonline.com is the online extension of the Times Herald-Record, and currently serves more than 31,000 online readers each day throughout Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Pike counties.