From coast to coast, some major renovations and repairs need to take place to preserve the country’s connecting infrastructure.
According to the 2023 Bridge Report from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), 1 in 3 bridges need repair or replacement. In total, ARTBA says that 220,000 could be repaired, but recommends that 76,600 should be entirely replaced.
ARTBA’s analysis is based on the recently released U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) 2023 National Bridge Inventory database.
According to ARTBA senior vice president and chief economist Alison Black, if the bridges were all placed next to each other, the stretch would cover 6,100 miles and, if traveling at a speed of 55 miles per hour, it would take over 110 hours to drive across.
The needed repairs are estimated to cost $319 billion in total.
“The good news is that states are beginning to employ these new resources to address long-overdue bridge needs,” said ARTBA president and CEO Dave Bauer in an August 2023 press release. “The better news is that more improvements are on the way.”
All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have access to $10.6 billion currently available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Bridge Formula Program. So far, states have only committed to $3.2 billion, which is about 30% of the budget, projected to back 2,060 projects. An additional $15.9 will become available over the next three years.
ARTBA published a Bridge Report map that illustrates which states have the highest percentages of bridges considered in poor condition. Some states with 9% or more of their bridges being structurally deficient include North and South Dakota, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Louisiana, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maine and Rhode Island. Twenty percent of West Virginia’s bridges are in poor condition, making it the top in the nation for the second year in a row.
Though the number sounds alarming, this is actually an improvement. Over the last five years, the number of bridges in fair condition has risen, increasing by 2,671 since last year’s report, and the amount considered poor dropped by 560.
“Most bridges are inspected every two years, so it takes time for repairs and rehabilitation efforts to show up in the annual federal data,” Black said. “What we do know now from other market indicators is that there are more bridge projects in the pipeline.”
