Decades of neglect and lack of investment have left over 46,000 bridges in the United States in a state of disrepair. To address this, President Joe Biden signed into law in November 2021 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – which allocates $550 billion to rebuilding key infrastructure. Still, necessary repairs may take years, and each day, Americans make 178 million trips across bridges deemed to be structurally deficient.
Using data from advocacy group American Road & Transportation Builders Association, 24/7 Wall St. identified the most dangerous bridge in every state – or the bridge deemed structurally deficient with the highest number of average daily crossings.
A structurally deficient bridge is one, defined by the Federal Highway Administration, in which any component – the deck, superstructure, substructure, or culverts – is in poor condition. One such bridge was the Fern Hollow Bridge that collapsed in Pittsburgh in January 2022, injuring 10. Here is a look at the state with the most dangerous bridges.
While the bridges on this list are not necessarily at imminent risk of collapse, they all require significant investment to avoid rising to that level of risk or to avoid restrictions of the weight or speed of vehicles crossing.
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, most bridges in the United States have an approximate service life of about 50 years – and most bridges on this list are at least 55 years old.
Many of the structurally deficient bridges on this list are on major interstate highways, including I-95, which stretches up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and I-90, which spans the country west-to-east, from Seattle to Boston. Here is a look at the longest roads in America.
Click here to see the most dangerous bridges in every state
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