New data from the U.S. Department of Transportation shows that an alarming number of American bridges are structurally deficient.
According to DOT data analyzed by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), 55,710 bridges have been declared structurally compromised. Of those, approximately 13,000 have been identified as needing total replacement, widening, or other major construction.
2017 Bridge Report Highlights
Here are some other highlights from the ARTBA bridge report:
- Cars, trucks, and buses cross structurally deficient bridges 185 million times every day.
- If placed end-t0-end, the nation’s structurally deficient bridges would span 1,276 miles.
- 1,900 of the structurally deficient bridges are part of the Interstate Highway System.
- 28% of bridges are at least 50 years old and have never had any sort of major repair work.
- Iowa has more structurally deficient bridges than any other state with 4,968. It is followed by Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, and Illinois.
According to ARTBA Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black, “America’s highway network is woefully underperforming. It is outdated, overused, underfunded and in desperate need of modernization.”
Click here to read more from the 2017 Bridge Report.
Sources:
CBS Baltimore