Driven by the recent collapse of the Interstate 5 Skagit River Bridge in Washington state, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and House Democratic transportation leaders introduced legislation Wednesday that would provide $5.5 billion to repair structurally deficient bridges nationwide.
The Strengthen and Fortify Existing Bridges (SAFE Bridges) Act would reduce the backlog of the more than 150,000 structurally deficient and functionally obsolete bridges across the country, said Rahall, the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“The nightmarish scene we witnessed in Washington State last month with the collapse of the I-5 Bridge was yet another dramatic wakeup call on the state of American infrastructure,” Rahall said in a statement.
“Congress simply cannot keep hitting the snooze button when it comes to needed investment in our nation’s bridges or think that these aging structures can be rehabilitated with rhetoric,” he said. “Providing the means for safe and reliable transportation is one of the core functions of our government and this legislation helps fulfill that responsibility.”
The SAFE Bridges Act, H.R. 2428, provides targeted funding for states to begin addressing the $121.2 billion backlog of deficient highway bridges identified in the Department of Transportation’s most recent conditions and performance report.
Specifically, the bill authorizes $2.75 billion in each of fiscal years 2013 and 2014 for states to rehabilitate and replace their structurally deficient, functionally obsolete, and fracture-critical bridges.
Click here for a list of estimated state bridge-repair outlays under the draft legislation. (1-page PDF; U.S. House of Representatives website.)
