Are you really as safe as you think on our nations bridges?

Since the beginning of time, mankind has had to overcome countless obstacles in pursuit of happiness, or survival, however you want to think about it. One of the most trivial obstacles to which I am referring is the challenge of crossing a river without having to swim through it first. But man found a solution to this problem, and that solution was building a bridge. Back in the day, bridges were one of the few major elements of infrastructure that people were required to worry about and maintain. However, unfortunately, it seems our values in the present day have changed, which is to be expected. With the plethora of buildings, sewage systems, dams, roadways, and all the other major elements of infrastructure we need to maintain in our lives today, bridges have seemingly dropped to a lower standing in that list. This, in turn, leads to the inevitable question, "Are we really as safe as we think on our nation's bridges?"

According to a 2014 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), the National Bridge Inventory database revealed that there are more than 61,000 bridges in dire need of repair across the nation. Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), calculated that cars, trucks, and school buses cross these structurally deficient bridges close to 215 million times every single day. Bridges are being overlooked to focus on ostensibly more imminent threats to society, and every year these bridges are simply getting older and more deficient.

“Many of the most heavily traveled bridges are nearly 50 years old. Elected officials can’t just sprinkle fairy dust on America’s bridge problem and wish it away”, said Dr. Black. “Without additional investment from all levels of government, our infrastructure spending will be a zero-sum game.” 

According to U.S. DOT data, there is currently a backlog of $115 billion in bridgework, and even more so in highway projects. State transportation departments regularly inspect bridge decks and support structures, rating them on a 0 to 9 scale. If they rate it a 4 or below, they are technically structurally deficient, and yet those bridges across the country are being driven on by civilians, not knowing they may be in danger. The ARTBA believes putting up signs, indicating a bridge is deficient and needs repair, would be beneficial to the general public. Whether they have been doing this or not, I do not know, for I have not seen any such signs in person.

Here is some current data, along with a map showing the percentage of bridges that are deficient per state, to display where this problem is most prevalent, and where it is not. The following is a list of the states with the largest number of deficient bridges, and how many:

1. Pennsylvania (5,050)
2. Iowa (5,022)
3. Oklahoma (4,216)
4. Missouri (3,310)
5. Nebraska (2,654)
6. California (2,501)
7. Kansas (2,416)
8. Mississippi (2,275)
9. Illinois (2,216)
10. North Carolina (2,199)

And the states with the least:

1. District of Columbia (14)
2. Nevada (34), Delaware (48)
3. Hawaii (61)
4. Utah (102).

In an attempt to bring this discussion a little closer to home, I will briefly go over the status of North Dakota’s bridges. Of the 4,429 bridges in the state, 701 are classified as structurally deficient. The ARTBA has also compiled data on the top 10 most traveled structurally deficient bridges. Believe it or not, three bridges in Cass County show up on that list. The first is the number one most traveled and deficient, and that is the US-10 Bridge over the Sheyenne River. Built in 1938, this urban bridge carries about 13,780 crossings daily. The second and third bridges that are in Cass County rank lower in the list, having been built in 1960. These are the US-10 and the ND-18 bridges, both over I-94. About 4,750 crossings take place on the US-10 Bridge daily, and about 2,650 on the ND-18 Bridge.

Disclaimer: All data is from the 2014 National Bridge Inventory. Conditions of these bridges may have changed due to recent work done on them.