Most DOT officials do not want to see additional weight cross their bridges, but they are asking for truckloads of cash to address an aging network.
According to a Transportation For America report, titled “The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Nation’s Bridges,” 1 out of 9 bridges in the U.S. are structurally deficient. That accounts for a total of almost 70,000 highway structures, which take up 11.5% of the landscape.
“Maintenance is a very important part of our bridges and is one thing that really needs to be brought out,” Andy Hermann, president-elect of the American Society of Civil Engineers and principal of Hardesty & Hanover, said in a teleconference attended by Roads & Bridges magazine. “A lot of our legislators when they talk about projects would much rather cut the ribbon on a brand new bridge than cut the ribbon on a paint job.”
Hermann said the U.S. should be spending $17 billion a year to maintain bridges. Between 2007 and 2009, about $5.2 billion was spent annually to repair spans, even though the need grew from $51.6 billion to almost $71 billion.
Most bridges do not have youth on their side, either. According to the Transportation For America report, just under 200,000 bridges (out of a total of 600,000) are more than 50 years old. By 2030, the lobbyist group predicts over 383,000 will be at the end of their design life.
The bridge condition update ranks states by the percentage of structurally deficient bridges, but takes it a step further by offering two more lists: one identifies the top two structurally deficient bridges in each state and the other ranks the 100 worst U.S. counties for the crumbling spans.
Pennsylvania (26.5% deficient), Oklahoma (22%), Iowa (21.7%), Rhode Island (21.6%) and South Dakota (20.3%) form the top five on the state structurally deficient list. On the flip side, Nevada (2.2%), Florida (2.4%), Texas (3%), Arizona (3%) and Utah (4.5%) have the fewest structurally deficient bridges.
Paula Hammond assumed the role of secretary of transportation for the Washington State Department of Transportation the day the I-35W bridge in Minnesota collapsed. The tragedy had Hammond combing the DOT’s bridge database that night, and ever since she has been a proponent of performance management and performance reporting. Washington is right above Utah in the percent of structurally deficient bridges at 5.1%.
“We make our investment decisions based on our priorities and the data we see through that,” she said during the teleconference. “I whole-heartedly endorse the notion of performance measurement, accountability, reporting and telling the public what we are doing with their money.”
The Transportation For America report makes the following recommendations to address the failing bridge network:
- Congress needs to provide states with increased resources to repair and rebuild bridges;
- Congress also must ensure funds sent to states for bridge repair are used only for that purpose; and
- Bridges need to be upgraded so that they are safe and accessible for all who use them. Here, Transportation For America urges Congress to adopt a “complete streets” policy to ensure that when our aging bridges are replaced they are designed to provide safe access for bicycle and public transportation traffic as well as motorists.
- Financial support from the federal government is essential in the repair of structurally deficient bridges. Hammond said that without new revenue to backstop the Highway Trust Fund her state would experience a 20-30% cut from its federal formula funds. “And we spend 100% of our federal formula funds on the preservation of both roads and bridges.”
