New Report Calls Attention to Need for Critical Bridge Funding

It may have been serendipity, but Transportation for America's new report on the sorry state of America's bridges, 11% are structurally deficient, was released the same day that a temporary replacement span opened on the Skagit River bridge in Wash.

2 minute read

June 23, 2013, 7:00 AM PDT

By Irvin Dawid


Larry Copeland writes about Transportation for American's newest bridge report, "The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Bridges", released June 19.  The report highlights the numbers, percentages, and locations of bridges that are rated "structurally deficient", meaning "those that require significant maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement", and the risk they pose to the motoring public.

More than one in nine bridges in the USA — at least 66,405, or 11% of the total — are structurally deficient, according to a new report.   The structurally deficient bridges are 65 years old on average, and the Federal Highway Administration estimates that repairing them would cost $76 billion.

Showing the serious safety risk to drivers and the staggering costs to address them was one of Transportation For America's main purposes in writing the report - to influence the deliberations that will soon begin to write the next transportation reauthorization bill, as the current one, MAP-21, expires Sept. 30, 2014.  Rather than building new roads to address congestion, a "fix-it-first" strategy is favored by many non-profit environmental, smart growth, and transportation groups to address safety and maintenance.

The group's press release indicates some of the nation's worst and best states to be driving across bridges. 

The five states with the worst bridge conditions have a share over 20 percent: Pennsylvania has the largest share of deteriorating bridges (24.5%), followed by Oklahoma (22.0%), Iowa (21.7%), Rhode Island (21.6%), and South Dakota (20.3%).

At the other end of the spectrum, five states have less than 5 percent of their bridges rated structurally deficient: Nevada and Florida lead the rankings with 2.2%, followed by Texas (2.6%), Arizona (3.2%), and Utah (4.3%).

The report's emphasis is mostly on the term 'structurally deficient', which transportation writer Ashley Halsey III of the Washington Post picked-up on, citing three major bridge collapses that didn't meet that definition.

The report does call attention, though to a lesser extent, to "fracture critical" which applied to both the Skagit River (2013) and I-35W (2007) bridge collapses, but neglects to mention "functionally obsolete" - applied to all three bridge collapses Halsey cites, including the earthquake-induced collapse of the Bay Bridge in 1989.

While structurally deficient may be the most serious category, all three terms explain the failing grade the nation's transportation infrastructure received in the American Society of Civil Engineer's report in March.

Watch the NBC Nightly News video on the report that asks, "Why are America's bridges falling down?".  It has footage of the Washington State and Minneapolis bridge collapses. John Robert Smith, co-chair of Transportation For America, is interviewed. See clips of the temporary replacement for the broken span of the I-5 Skagit River bridge now in operation, and hear the Reason Foundation's positive take on the state of U.S. infrastructure.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013 in USA Today

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

"Altadena - Not For Sale" yard sign in front of burned down house after Eaton Fire in Altadena, California in January 2025.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations

Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.

July 7 - Dwell

Dense multistory residential buildings in hilly San Francisco, California.

Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean

Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?

July 7 - The San Francisco Standard

Blue self-driving Ford Transit van shuttle in Jacksonville, Florida.

Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US

A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.

July 7 - Smart Cities Dive

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA