Oklahoma celebrates improved highway bridge conditions
Oklahoma has significantly reduced the amount of structurally deficient highway bridges in the state and is now in the U.S.’s top five for favorable highway bridge conditions, according to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT).
“That is the highest ranking we have ever achieved,” ODOT Executive Director Tim Gatz said in a public meeting Monday.
Over 20 years ago, the state had nearly 1,200 structurally deficient highway bridges and ranked 49th in the country for highway bridge conditions.
Oklahoma’s highway bridges required immediate, significant maintenance and repair to stay in service, as well as eventual large-scale rehabilitation or replacement to address their poor structural health.
Decades of work has turned the Sooner State’s infrastructure around. Oklahoma Transportation Commissioner Bobby Alexander called the change “an incredible feat.”
In 2025, the Federal Highway Administration found 35 bridges maintained by ODOT to be structurally deficient. This equals roughly 0.5% of the 6,800 structures managed by the state. ODOT oversees bridges on non-tolled interstates, U.S. highways and state highways.
Oklahoma now has the fourth-most favorable highway bridge conditions in the country, according to the Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory.
“It takes everybody working together to get to that number four spot,” Gatz said. “I could not be prouder to stand in front of you today and tell you that. Again, incredible accomplishment. It is going to take continued diligence for us to stay there."
The state’s Rebuilding Oklahoma Access and Driver Safety Fund made a significant impact, Gatz said.
Oklahoma’s highway bridges are inspected at least once every two years, per federal law. There are around 1,000 currently classified as at-risk or have conditional elements actively monitored by ODOT.
These structures are addressed in an ongoing eight-year construction plan, Gatz said.
Sources: Oklahoma Voice, Oklahoma Department of Transportation