America’s Bridge Repair Campaign Witnesses Slow & Steady Gains as ‘Poor’ Spans Decline
WASHINGTON—Nearly 221,800 U.S. bridges need major repair or replacement, a major national construction trade association reported following an analysis of recently released federal government data shows.
The deck area of structurally deficient bridges accounts for 11.8% of total deck area on all structures, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association reported. Placed end-to-end, these structures span over 6,100 miles, or the equivalent of every mile of urban and rural Interstate in California, Florida and Illinois, ARTBA noted.
Of the bridges needing repair, 42,067 are rated in poor condition and classified as “structurally deficient.” That is 324 fewer than in 2023.
States with the biggest decline in the number of bridges in poor condition: Pennsylvania (down 90), Louisiana (down 87), Florida (down 85), West Virginia (down 74), and California (down 64).
Bridges in poor condition represent 6.8% of the 2024 U.S. bridge inventory—compared to 7.3% in 2020.
“Over the last five years we have seen significant progress in states like Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Louisiana, and West Virginia – reducing the number of bridges in poor condition,” said Dr. Alison Premo Black, ARTBA’s chief economist, who conducted the analysis. “While improvements can take time, every bridge repair increases the safety and efficiency of our network for the traveling public.”
States have received $15.9 billion in the first three years of the IIJA’s new $27.5 billion formula bridge program and, to date, have committed 46% ($7.3 billion) of these resources to more than 4,170 bridge projects.
The remaining 54% ($8.5 billion) of already released bridge funds—plus the $10.6 billion that will be provided in the next two years—will support needed bridge improvements well into the future.Twenty-three states have committed at least half of their available bridge formula funds, with the top 10 being: Georgia (100%), North Dakota (99%), Indiana (98%), Florida (96%), Oklahoma (95%), Nebraska (91.5%), Idaho (91.5%), Arkansas (88%), West Virginia (85%) and Alabama (85%).
Based on average cost data submitted by states to the U.S. Department of Transportation, ARTBA estimates it would cost more than $400 billion to make all needed repairs to the 221,800 structures.
New York State’s Deficient Bridge Data
New York State was ranked 11th in the nation for the percentage of deficient bridges (9%). The Empire State was ranked sixth in the country in the number of structurally deficient bridges (1,664). The state ranked third in the nation for the percentage of structurally deficient bridge deck area (12%).
Among the other highlights of the ARTBA report on New York State bridges include:
- The state has identified needed repairs on 17,636 bridges. This compares to 17,548 bridges that needed work in 2020.
- Over the life of the IIJA, New York will receive a total of $2.0 billion in bridge formula funds, which will help make needed repairs.
- New York currently has access to $1.2 billion of that total and has committed $46.5 million toward 15 projects as of June 2024.
- Of the 17,642 bridges in the state, 1,664, or 9.4% are classified as structurally deficient. This means one of the key elements is in poor or worse condition. This was down from 1,702 bridges classified as structurally deficient in 2020.
National and State Rankings Available: www.artbabridgereport. org.