States with the Most Derelict Bridges
Earlier this week we wrote about how the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) analyzes the annual Department of Transportation report on bridges. The good news is that the number of bridges in need of repair are going down, but the bad news is that it is at a slow rate, averaging 1,400 a year with a backlog of over 222,000. But in which states do bridges need most attention, and the state Departments of Transportation need to get to work? Here is what ARBTA found.
States with Most Bridges in Poor Condition
- Iowa (4,558 bridges).
- Pennsylvania (3,022).
- Illinois (2,472).
- Missouri (2,213).
- Oklahoma (1,815).
- California (1,591).
- New York (1,578).
- Louisiana (1,545).
- West Virginia (1,442).
- North Carolina (1,336).
States with most Bridges in Poor Condition (Percentage)
States with more bridges such as California will all but inherently have more bridges labeled as “Poor”, than those such as Alaska with fewer bridges. As such, ARBTA has also compiled a list regarding “Poor” bridges for each state in proportion to the total number of bridges the state has. Some states remain on the list, but many of them have changed altogether.
- West Virginia (20%).
- Iowa (19%).
- South Dakota (17%).
- Rhode Island (15%).
- Maine (15%).
- Pennsylvania (13%).
- Puerto Rico (13%).*
- Louisiana (12%).
- Michigan (11%).
- North Dakota (11%).
*Not a state, but a territory that still ranks among the highest in the nation.
Conclusion
Not all bridges are created equal; there is a good chance that the reason why West Virginia has so many bridges in a state of disrepair is because of less frequent use. Unfortunately, with how our government works on infrastructure projects, it is likely that rural bridges that serve fewer than 1,000 people per day will likely need to collapse entirely before a repair (or in these cases, replacement) order is placed by anyone with the authority to do so.
Ultimately we hope that the pace of bridge repair picks up and the nation’s drivers, commercial or otherwise, can travel across its passes without trepidation.
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