Thousands of U.S. bridges need repair; look up local data - Entrepreneur Generations

About 178 million vehicles daily cross the more than 47,000 bridges in the United States urgently in need of repairs, according to the 2019 Bridge Report compiled by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, Kate Queram reports for Route Fifty. The report is based on an analysis of the Department of Transportation's National Bridge Inventory database, and has state-level data.

"Structurally deficient bridges are not 'imminently unsafe, but they are in need of attention,' according to the report. In addition to the 47,052 bridges considered in poor condition, an additional 69,000 are operating under weight limits or other protective measures designed to reduce stress on the structures," Queram reports. "In total, there are nearly 235,000 bridges across the country that need structural repair, rehabilitation or replacement . . . Completing all the necessary repairs would cost nearly $171 billion."

The number of structurally deficient bridges declined steadily over the last five years, and very slightly over the last two--from 7.7% of the nation's bridges in 2017 to 7.6% in 2018--partly because of the Federal Highway Administration's recent redefinition of the term "structurally deficient." The new definition is narrower, and no longer includes "bridges where the overall structural evaluation was rated in poor or worse condition, or with insufficient waterway openings," Queram reports.

Alison Premo Black, the ARTBA chief economist who conducted the analysis, said in a statement: "At the current pace, it would take more than 80 years to replace or repair the nation's structurally deficient bridges."

from The Rural Blog http://bit.ly/2Il0IWx Thousands of U.S. bridges need repair; look up local data - Entrepreneur Generations

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