Washington – Nearly 70,000 bridges in the United States were found to be “structurally deficient” in a report (.pdf file) released March 30 by the Washington-based organization Transportation for America.
The report ranked states by the percentage of structurally deficient bridges. Twenty-three states across the country have a higher percentage of deficient bridges than the national average of 11.5 percent.
Pennsylvania ranked No. 1 for having the highest percentage (26.5) of its 22,271 bridges rated as deficient, followed by Oklahoma with 22 percent of its 23,680 bridges rated as deficient. Nevada had the lowest percentage (2.2).
Report authors concluded that despite declarations from members of Congress to make bridge safety a priority, existing federal programs do not ensure aging bridges are fixed.
