2013 Bridge Report

7/28/2019 2013 Bridge Report

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2

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bridges are 65 years old on average — more than 22

years older than all bridges. Herein lies a glimpse of

[OLM\[\YLÄ_^L»YLPUMVY!0UQ\Z[`LHYZone in four

bridges (170,000) will be over 65, an age at which it’s

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and not all of them pose an immediate threat to public

Every day, milliions of people from all walks of life in

cities and towns large and small travel over one of

our country’s 66,405Z[Y\J[\YHSS`KLÄJPLU[IYPKNLZ

— more than one in nine (11 percent) of all bridges.

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McDonald’s restaurants in the entire country. Laid

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Washington, DC to Denver, Colorado — more than

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American bridge is well past middle age at 43 years.

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About this data

This report is derived from the National Bridge Inventory, a compliation of state-collected data, which is reported[VHUK[OLUW\ISPZOLKI [OL-LKLYHS/PNO^H`(KTPUPZ[YH[PVU;OPZKH[H HZYLSLHZLKPULHYS`HUK HZYL-

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reporting date and the release of the FHWA dataset. States have the most up-to-date bridge data, but this is the

sole complete national source of bridge data.



THE STATE OF OUR NATION’S BRIDGES

3

The Fix We’re In For:The State of our Nation’s Bridges 2013

T4 AMERICA

safety. However, allowing bridges to remain in serious

need of repair can lead to the sudden closure of a

critical transportation link or, far worse, a collapse that

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affected region.

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transportation and other budget woes, securing the

money to repair or replace thousands of bridges, while

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networks, is a critical national issue. The maintenance

backlog will only grow as bridges age and costs rise.

The Federal Highway Administration estimates that

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most heavily traveled bridges – including those built

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Meanwhile, Congress last year introduced a wild card

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dedicated fund for bridge repair in the renewal of

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Instead, states are directed to set standards that they

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in case of failure. The upshot is that bridge repair

now must compete with other transportation needs.

At the same time, the new law reduced access to

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bridges that are not part of the so-called National

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mean?

Highway bridges have three primary compo-

ULU[Z!the deck, which is the top surface of

the bridge that cars, trucks and people cross;

2) the superstructure, which supports the

deck; and 2) the substructure, which uses the

ground to support the superstructure. Each of

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and 9 when inspected, with 9 signifying the best

condition. Federal guidelines classify bridges

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components is rated at 4 or less (poor or worse),

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in its support structure or its deck. (There are

a handful of other criteria that can result in a

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bridges, one of these three primary components

rates a 4 or below.) Federal law requires states

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every two years, though states typically inspect

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4


T4 AMERICA

Arizona, Delaware and Hawaii were the largest

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6RSHOVTH also led the way in real numbers, increasing

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An uncertain future for bridge

repair and safety

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program maintained a dedicated fund for repairing

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Highway System (the

interstates plus larger state

highways).

Slow – and

slowing –progress

The good news is that

some states have worked

hard to address the

problem and have reduced

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report, investments from

the American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act and ongoing transportation

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This is a continuation of progress made over the last

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bridges, but the bad news is that that progress has

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VMKLÄJPLU[IYPKNLZI`17,000. But in the period from

[OLU\TILYKYVWWLKI`VUS`4,966 – a rate

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(TVUN[OLZ[H[LZ^P[O[OLSHYNLZ[ZOHYLVMKLÄJPLU[

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number (though their rank may have stayed the same).

Pennsylvania remains number one with one in four

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the largest gains against its maintenance backlog,

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than 8 percent. In terms of numbers of structurally

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the two years since our last report, while Pennsylvania YLK\JLKP[ZU\TILYI`HUK OhioKYVWWLKI`

However, not all states have made progress since our

last report. 16 statesOH]LTVYLKLÄJPLU[IYPKNLZ[VKH`

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Year

# of

bridges KLÄJPLU[

Percent

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per 4-year

period

92-96




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T4 AMERICA

revenues from the Treasury Department to keep the

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remain solvent. This situation cannot continue. Current

spending levels are precarious and inadequate. In order

to bring our rapidly aging infrastructure up to a state

of good repair, Congress should raise new dedicated

revenues for surface transportation programs, including

bridge repair.

Make all 180,000-plus federal-aid bridges eligible

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for bridge repair was rolled into the new National

Highway Performance Program, which represents

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Highway Performance Program funds may only be

spent on a limited subset of highways known as

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percent of all highway bridges, and only ten percent of

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eligible for federal support. Given that nearly nine in

ten deteriorating bridges are located off of the National

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to be funded by the National Highway Performance

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all funding from the former bridge repair program on

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includes the interstates and most larger state highways.

Certainly, bridges on the NHS roadways are critical,

and carry vast numbers of people and goods. But

these other bridges also provide essential links, and

those who use them also deserve to be safe. Given

the budget woes of so many local governments, there

is little prospect of reducing the repair backlog absent

federal assistance. As it stands now, however, these

bridges are forced to compete with all other local

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transportation dollars that did not grow to meet these

new responsibilities.

Recommendations

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the following steps to reduce the maintenance backlog,

bring our bridges to a state of good repair and keep

users safe.

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STATE DATA & RANKINGS

7

T4 AMERICA The Fix We’re In For:The State of our Nation’s Bridges 2013

Program, as they were eligible for repair dollars under the previous Highway Bridge Program.

Prioritize Repair

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of good repair.

National Rankings and State Data

Note: full state and county level summary statistics are available online at t4america.org/resources/bridges

State Rank

KLÄJPLU[

Total

bridges

+LÄJPLU[

bridges

2013

+LÄJPLU[

Bridges

2011

(FHWA)

Change in

KLÄJPLU[

bridges

over 2011

Percent

change in

KLÄJPLU[

bridge total

Average

KHPS`[YHMÄJ

VUKLM

bridges

Pennsylvania 1 22,667 5,543 6,043 IL[[LY

6RSHOVTH 2 5,382 5,305 +77 ^VYZL

Iowa 3 24,465 5,191 5,440 -249 IL[[LY Rhode Island 4 754 156 163 -7 IL[[LY

South Dakota 5 1,208 1,198 ^VYZL

Nebraska 6 18 2,778 2,820 -42 IL[[LY

North Dakota 7 4,445 746 727 ^VYZL

5L^/HTWZOPYL 8 2,429 362 383 IL[[LY

Maine 9 356 389 IL[[LY

Missouri 10 3,502 4,142 IL[[LY

Mississippi 11 2,414 2,713 -299 IL[[LY

>`VTPUN 12 426 407 ^VYZL Louisiana 13 1,798 1,747 ^VYZL

West Virginia 14 952 1,025 IL[[LY

Hawaii 15 152 144 ^VYZL

+* 16 242 31 31

New York 17 2,170 2,109 ^VYZL

Michigan 18 1,354 1,539 IL[[LY 7,542,647

South Carolina 19 9,252 1,127 1,232 IL[[LY

California 20 12 24,797 2,978 3,256 IL[[LY

North Carolina 21 12 2,195 2,362 IL[[LY

Alaska 22 128 146 IL[[LY

Indiana 23 2,030 1,995 ^VYZL

=LYTVU[ 24 2,726 288 344 -56 IL[[LY

Kansas 25 2,657 2,833 IL[[LY

New Jersey 26 6,557 651 682 IL[[LY

Connecticut 27 406 390 ^VYZL



STATE DATA & RANKINGS

8

T4 AMERICA The Fix We’re In For:The State of our Nation’s Bridges 2013

Massachusetts 28 495 565 IL[[LY

Idaho 29 397 384 ^VYZL

Ohio 30 2,462 2,789 IL[[LY

Virginia 31 1,251 1,272 IL[[LY

Minnesota 32 1,191 1,151 ^VYZL

(SHIHTH 33 9 1,448 1,608 IL[[LY

Kentucky 34 1,247 1,319 -72 IL[[LY

Illinois 35 2,311 2,289 +22 ^VYZL

Wisconsin 36 1,151 1,153 -2 IL[[LY

New Mexico 37 307 332 -25 IL[[LY

Montana 38 399 407 IL[[LY

Arkansas 39 899 949 IL[[LY

Maryland 40 364 367 IL[[LY

Colorado 41 566 584 IL[[LY

Delaware 42 53 50 ^VYZL

Georgia 43 6 878 953 -75 IL[[LY

;LUULZZLL 44 1,195 1,236 IL[[LY

Oregon 45 433 463 IL[[LY

Washington 46 362 400 IL[[LY

Utah 47 126 133 -7 IL[[LY

Arizona 48 247 233 ^VYZL

Texas 49 1,337 1,662 IL[[LY

Nevada 50 40 39 ^VYZL

Florida 51 2.2 265 300 better

National Totals 604,995

This report was wri tten by Stephen Lee Davis and David Goldberg, based on an analysis of the National Bridge Inventory by

Kevin DeGood, with additional contributions from Nick Donohue and James Corless of Transportation for America. Layout and

design by Stephen Lee Davis, with graphics by Anagram9LSLHZLK1\UL4VYLPUMVYTH[PVUHIV\[[OLKH[HHUKYLWVY[

can be found at t4america.org/resources/bridges

About Transportation for America Transportation for America (T4 America) is the largest, most diverse coalition

working on transportation reform today. We believe it is time for a bold new vision — transportation that guarantees our

freedom to move however we choose and leads to a stronger economy, greater energy security, cleaner environment and

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smarter transportation system that works for everyone.

3:[YLL[5>:\P[L

>HZOPUN[VU+*

[email protected]

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2013 Bridge Report

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