Study Shows Substantial Number of Bridges in Need of Major Repair

A new study of federal data shows as many as 38% of all bridges in the United States are in need of major repair or replacement.

According to a new report by the American Road & Transport Builders Association (ARTBA), as many as 235,000 bridges need to be fixed our outright replaced. Rhode Island leads the way in percentage, with 23.1% of its bridges in need of repair. Iowa had the highest number of deficient bridges with 4,675, good for just over 19% of the state’s total. Of the ten most commonly used bridges named in the study, nine are in California.

The ARTBA has been conducting the study for five years. They estimate it would cost around $171 billion to repair all the bridges identified as deficient in 2018.