The U.S. has a bridge problem.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country's overall infrastructure a C- grade in its 2021 report card, and the American Road and Transportation Builders Association estimates that 171.5 million vehicles cross over 45,000 structurally deficient U.S. bridges every day.

Last week, federal lawmakers provided an early step in the long process to remediation. On July 28, the Senate voted to advance a new bipartisan infrastructure package, which includes $550 billion in new federal spending. The bill would invest $110 billion into roads, bridges and other major infrastructure projects, representing the largest bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system under President Dwight Eisenhower, according to the White House.

ARTBA's analysis of the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Inventory found that:

  • 220,000 bridges, or 36%, need repair work.
  • 79,500 bridges need replacement.
  • 45,000 bridges were classified as structurally deficient in 2020, decreasing by 1,140 structures in 2019.
  • At the current pace, it would take nearly 40 years to repair the backlog of structurally deficient bridges at a cost of $41.8 billion, ARTBA estimated.

The number of structurally deficient bridges has declined for the last five years, but that is tempered by the trend of more bridges being downgraded from good to fair condition in the same period, ARTBA said.

As the bipartisan bill awaits action this week, here is a look at bridges across the country that exemplify the strain U.S. infrastructure faces and what happens to communities when a major piece of infrastructure is shut down.

Read the full article about many U.S. bridges being structurally deficient by Zachary Phillips at Smart Cities Dive.