More from the Bridge Inventory: Top 5 States with the Best and Worst Bridges

Updated Jan 31, 2015

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Despite that the nation’s transportation funding system is in great peril as the expiration of the current surface transportation funding bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), is set to expire on September 30, 2014, many state agencies expect to be able to lower their number of functionally obsolete (FO) and structurally deficient (SD) bridges.

In the Better Roads 2013 Bridge Inventory, a proprietary survey conducted annually of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the survey found that 21.5 percent (131,200) of the nation’s 609,438 bridges are either structurally deficient (SD) or functionally obsolete (FO).

On a state level, 19.4 percent (58,106) of the 300,260 total state/interstate bridges are SD/FO. At the city/county/township level, 23.6 percent (73,094) of the overall 309,178 total state/interstate bridges are SD/FO.

During the past five years, the number of combined overall SD/FO bridges has decreased from 23.7 percent slightly each year from the current 21.5 percent of overall SD/FO bridges. The percentage of overall combined SD/FO interstate and state bridges has also slightly decreased during the past five years from 21.6 percent in 2009, 21 percent in 2010, 20.3 percent in 2011, and 20.1 percent in 2010 to the current 19.4 percent.

The same is true of the overall city/county/township bridge. In 2009, 25.7 percent of these bridges were combined SD/FO. In 2010, it was 25.4 percent, 25 percent in 2011, 24.8 percent in 2012, and the current 23.6 percent in 2013.

Here’s the list of best and worst bridges by state in both number of bridges and percentage.

States with the Five Worst Overall Combined SD/FO Bridges, by Percentage:

State

Total Interstate & State Bridges

Total *SD/FO

%

Total City/ County/ Township Bridges

Total *SD/FO

%

Total All Bridges

Combined Total *SD/FO

%

District of Columbia

205

117

57%

N/A

N/A

N/A

205

117

57%

Rhode Island

619

311

50%

147

76

52%

766

387

51%

New York

8,339

3,453

41%

9,053

3,299

36%

17,392

6,752

39%

Pennsylvania

16,135

5,530

34%

6,458

3,222

50%

22,593

8,752

39%

Massachusetts

3,577

1,369

38%

1,572

593

38%

5,149

1,962

38%

.

States with the Least Overall Combined SD/FO Bridges, by Percentage:

State

Total Interstate & State Bridges

Total *SD/FO

%

Total City/ County/ Township Bridges

Total *SD/FO

%

Total All Bridges

Combined Total *SD/FO

%

Wyoming

1,955

110

6%

846

258

30%

2,801

368

13%

Arizona

4,832

501

10%

2,737

334

12%

7,569

835

11%

Utah

1,887

189

10%

1,030

142

14%

2,917

331

11%

Nevada

1,077

161

15%

725

40

6%

1,802

201

11%

California**

12,735

383

3%

12,802

1,216

9%

25,537

1,599

6%

**Note: California did not report functionally obsolete bridges.

.

Top Five States with the Highest Overall Number of Combined SD/FO Bridges:

State

Total Interstate & State Bridges

Total *SD/FO

%

Total City/ County/ Township Bridges

Total *SD/FO

%

Total All Bridges

Combined Total *SD/FO

%

Pennsylvania

16,135

5,530

34%

6,458

3,222

50%

22,593

8,752

39%

Texas

34,521

3,683

11%

18,015

4,999

28%

52,536

8,682

17%

New York

8,339

3,453

41%

9,053

3,299

36%

17,392

6,752

39%

Ohio

11,510

2,371

21%

18,185

3,994

22%

29,695

6,365

21%

Iowa

4,119

374

9%

20,242

5,729

28%

24,361

6,103

25%

.

Be sure to also read about what causes the most damage to bridges. For more information about U.S. bridges, visit BetterBridges.com.

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To view previous Bridge Inventories, check out the links below.