ARTBA Analysis: 61,000 Bridges in Need of Significant Repair
A recent review of federal data by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association concluded that more than 61,000 structurally deficient bridges nationwide require significant upgrades and repairs.
Alison Premo Black, the group’s chief economist, said April 1 the analysis of federal bridge data showed that trucks and other vehicles cross structurally compromised bridges more than 200 million times a day.
“Many of the most heavily traveled bridges are nearly 50 years old. Elected officials can’t just sprinkle fairy dust on America’s bridge problem and wish it away,” Black said in a statement. “It will take committed investment by legislators at all levels of government.”
Black warned that infrastructure concerns would continue to mount if state and local agencies find themselves without help from the federal government in a few months. Federal highway funding authority expires May 31, and without help from the Highway Trust Fund, state officials have indicated they would delay or cancel big-ticket infrastructure projects.
“Without additional investment from all levels of government, our infrastructure spending will be a zero-sum game,” Black added.
ARTBA’s analysis comes a few days after the Department of Transportation unveiled a six-year highway proposal that would boost the Highway Trust Fund. GOP leaders on Capitol Hill have not endorsed the plan nor have they said how they would keep the trust fund solvent after May.
