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.

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s proposal for a $10 billion national infrastructure bank is “dead on arrival,” the chairman of the House transportation committee said last week, and other Republicans on the panel said the bank was unnecessary because its goals could be achieved through other means.

WASHINGTON — House Republicans attacked President Obama’s proposal for a national infrastructure bank at a hearing Wednesday, saying it is unnecessary and its goals could be achieved through other means.

When the leadership of the nation’s trucking industry gathers in Grapevine, Texas, later this month for American Trucking Associations’ annual Management Conference & Exhibition, the country’s infrastructure will be the top item on what is sure to be a busy agenda.

President Obama, speaking before a bridge on the Ohio-Kentucky border that carries heavy truck traffic, made a pitch for infrastructure spending and his jobs plan.

President Obama hinted that a jobs plan to be unveiled Thursday will include infrastructure elements to repair and rebuild roads and bridges, in a bid to put people back to work and boost the economy, the Detroit News reported.

Rep. John Mica (R) Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has set July 7 as his target date for unveiling his six-year reauthorization bill.

Imagine a time when a statewide trucking organization, in order to help its state government pay for necessary improvements to roads and bridges, supports a proposal that the state float a bond issue to cover the work and volunteers to have its members pay most of the bills for the work through a jump in the diesel fuel tax.