A new analysis from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) reveals an alarming 36% of U.S. bridges are in urgent need of major repair or replacement. The recently released Department of Transportation’s 2023 National Bridge Inventory (NBI) database paints a grim picture of our crumbling infrastructure.
To put it into perspective, if these structurally deficient bridges were lined up, they would span over 6,100 miles – that’s longer than the distance from New York to London. And traversing this treacherous network would take over 110 hours, assuming you could maintain an average speed of 55 miles-per-hour.
ARTBA’s Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black, who spearheaded the study, estimates that rectifying this crisis would come with a hefty price tag of over $319 billion.
States currently have access to $10.6 billion from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This money is specifically allocated to help make much-needed repairs to bridges. In addition, $15.9 billion will become available in the next three years.
As we approach the end of fiscal year 2023, states have already committed $3.2 billion, or 30%, of these bridge formula funds to a total of 2,060 different bridge projects. But there’s still $7.4 billion on its way.
Interestingly, eight states have shown exemplary commitment by using more than two-thirds of their available bridge formula funds. These include Idaho, Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas for taking this important step towards improving our infrastructure.
“The good news is that states are beginning to employ these new resources to address long-overdue bridge needs,” ARTBA President & CEO Dave Bauer said. “The better news is that more improvements are on the way.”
“Most bridges are inspected every two years, so it takes time for repairs and rehabilitation efforts to show up in the annual federal data,” said ARTBA Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black. “What we do know now from other market indicators is that there are more bridge projects in the pipeline.”
Among other findings in ARTBA’s analysis:
- The number of bridges in poor condition declined by 560 compared to 2022. At the current pace, it would take 75 years to repair them all.
- Over the last five years, the share of bridges in fair condition continues to grow. In 2023, nearly half of all U.S. bridges (48.9%) were in fair condition.
- There are 31 states that have committed less than 33% of their available bridge formula funds as of June 30.
It should be noted that states have some flexibility to decide when to make investments for specific projects with the formula bridge program funds, as they are given a four-year window to commit these funds.
The full findings, including state-by-state rankings, are available on ARTBA’s website HERE.
Source: The Trucker
