Photo by Garry Knight is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Here’s an alarming statistic…in the United States, cars, trucks and school buses cross the nation’s 61,064 structurally compromised bridges 215 million times every day. How comforting is that?
Those statistics are from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). And, in the organization’s most recent report on deficient bridges in the United States, we are told that some 61,000 bridges are in need of immediate attention.
While structurally deficient does not necessarily mean unsafe, it does indicate that a bridge is in need of major repair. One out of every nine bridges in America is now currently designated as structurally deficient. Just as alarming is the fact that there is a $115 billion backlog of bridge repair projects throughout the nation.
That is yet another wake-up call for the U.S. Congress, which is currently laboring over a decision about how to address the country’s infrastructure needs. Also looming is a May 31 deadline when the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which provides funding for state and federal infrastructure projects, becomes insolvent if Congress does not take action.
Public officials throughout the country have canceled or delayed major bridge projects because they are uncertain that federal funding will ever be available. And, as the May 31 deadline approaches, ARTBA predicts even more states will do the same thing.
On the other hand, a few state leaders have turned to alternative funding initiatives such as public-private partnerships (P3s/PPPs). They have decided to move on without waiting on Congress. Pennsylvania’s Rapid Bridge Replacement Project is an example, where a public-private partnership will replace more than 550 of the state’s 5,000-plus structurally deficient bridges by 2018. Pennsylvania has the most structurally deficient bridges among all states. Iowa is next with 5,022 and Oklahoma follows with 4,216 bridges that need immediate attention.
In Texas, there are 52,937 bridges (excluding all the federal bridges) and 1,127 of them have been designated as structurally deficient. There is no “good news – bad news” to this story. Improving the condition and performance of the nation’s transportation system will require an investment of $120 billion for highways and bridges between now and 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
USDOT reports that 25 percent of the nation’s bridges need significant repair to be able to handle today’s traffic. With the nation’s recent and ongoing growth, those numbers should continue to climb.
Members of Congress should act to put in place a long-term funding plan that allows states to repair or replace inadequate bridge infrastructure. The issue is critical enough to warrant thousands of letters to congressional offices from citizens from all walks of life in every state in America.
Mary Scott Nabers is a leading expert on public sector trends. Follow Strategic Partnerships, Inc. for her latest insights.