It's difficult to be comfortable with the state Department of Transportation's position that the deterioration afflicting the Freeport Bridge happened in a time frame of less than two years.

The span isn't a wooden structure suddenly victimized by billions of hungry termites. It is a 3,114-foot-long steel truss and multi-girder bridge.

Despite the fact that it was built in 1962, it's hard to fathom that all of a sudden — over just 24 months — 230 areas on the main span and another span that is part of the overall bridge complex reached a state of deterioration requiring an emergency three-ton weight limit.

A story in Sunday's Butler Eagle said the bridge inspection began in March, followed by an analysis.

A more plausible explanation would seem to be that the bridge inspections conducted every other year were not careful enough to identify the looming problem much sooner than occurred. Or, perhaps, transportation officials were merely hoping that the deteriorating span would last until a major proposed rehabilitation or replacement project could be undertaken.

If past inaction was based on trying to save money, that might be construed by some people as laudable on the state's part. But the inconvenience and costs to commercial truckers now associated with the detour, as well as the impact on emergency services such as fire departments, are understandably a basis for frustration and anger.

Currently, the bridge is not deemed adequate for the weight of fire trucks. Fire department officials also were unhappy about the fact that PennDOT hadn't discussed the weight limit with emegency services prior to imposing it.

The one positive surrounding the current scenario is that all of the emergency repairs slated must be completed by Dec. 1. That will result in full removal of a 20-mile detour for heavy truck traffic hopefully before the worst of the wintery weather begins to set in.

Still, the explanations about the time frame in which the bridge became of such concern need to be examined more closely by top state transportation officials. Likewise, past Freeport Bridge inspection reports should be reexamined and made public.

The public needs to be reassured that PennDOT bridge inspections really are as careful as they ought to be.