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2024 Bridge Report Shows Slight Improvement but Dire Prospects

By Lori Lovely | Oct 21, 2024
Image by Kevan Craft from Pixabay
The 2024 U.S. Department of Transportation National Bridge Inventory was analyzed by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, with findings that 36% of all U.S. bridges require major repair or total replacement.

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The 2024 U.S. Department of Transportation National Bridge Inventory was analyzed by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, with findings that 36% of all U.S. bridges require major repair or total replacement. End-to-end, that stretches over 6,100 miles, with 221,800 spans needing repair. This includes 76,175 bridges that should be replaced.

Of those in need of repair, 42,067 are rated in poor condition and classified as “structurally deficient.” The good news is that the number is down slightly from 2023, when 42,391 (7%) were rated poor.

The number of bridges in fair condition has grown over the past five years, as the number of bridges in poor and good condition have declined. This year, almost half (49%) of all bridges in the U.S. were rated in fair condition.

Causes include age and extreme temperatures. According to the New York Times, roughly one-fourth of U.S. bridges were built before 1960. Extreme temperature swings in recent years are making bridges age more quickly, causing them to swell and contract rapidly, thus weakening them. A PLOS ONE study indicates that extreme temperatures could cause one in four of the country’s steel bridges to collapse by 2050.

ARTBA estimates it would cost at least $400 billion to make all needed repairs. To date, states have received $15.9 billion in the first three years of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act $27.5 billion formula bridge program and have committed 46% ($7.3 billion) to more than 4,170 bridge projects. The remaining 54% ($8.5 billion) of already-released bridge funds plus the $10.6 billion promised over the next two years is earmarked for future bridge improvements.

An additional IIJA initiative, the Bridge Investment Program, is administered on a discretionary basis by the DOT. It will provide an additional $12.5 billion for projects awarded through 2026. To date, it has awarded $7.8 billion for 87 small and large bridge project grants in 40 states. However, a funding gap of $350 billion remains.

So far, 23 states have spent or committed half or more of their funds to projects, while 17 states have spent less than one-third of their allotted funds.

The annual ARTBA Bridge Report provides a snapshot in time of the nation’s bridge conditions. Data comes from the Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory on August 20, 2024. Because most bridges are inspected every two years, repairs in progress or in planning may not be reflected in the most recent National Bridge Inventory data.

About The Author

Lori Lovely is an award-winning writer and editor in central Indiana. She writes on technical topics, heavy equipment, automotive, motorsports, energy, water and wastewater, animals, real estate, home improvement, gardening and more. Reach her at: [email protected]


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