There are more than 18,000 structurally deficient bridges located in about 100 U.S. metropolitan regions, according to a new study on deteriorating infrastructure.
The deficient bridges in the 102 metropolitan regions carry three-quarters of all the traffic in the country crossing deficient bridges, said the study, published by the group Transportation for America.
“The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Nation’s Busiest Bridges,” was released Wednesday by the group, a coalition of transportation advocates that includes builders, realtors, labor unions, senior citizen groups, environmentalists and local governments.
T4 America, as the group is known, culled its list of structurally deficient bridges from the National Bridge Inventory, a database maintained by the Federal Highway Administration.
The study found that one in every nine bridges in the country is rated structurally deficient by the FHWA, meaning the bridge needs “more frequent monitoring and critical, near-term maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement.”
Pennsylvania has the most metropolitan regions — six — with high percentages of deficient metropolitan bridges, the study said.
In the largest population category, the Pittsburgh metropolitan region has the highest percentage of deficient bridges with 30.4%, followed by San Francisco with 20.9% and Philadelphia with 20%.
In the second largest population group targeted in the study, the Oklahoma City region leads with the highest percentage of deficient bridges — 19.8%.
That’s followed by San Jose, Calif., and Providence, R.I., where nearly 19% of their bridges are rated as deficient.
