Highway Bridge Conditions: Issues for Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Aug. 31, 2020 |
| Report Number |
R44459 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Robert S. Kirk, Specialist in Transportation Policy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
Of the 612,000 public road bridges in the United States, about 59,000 (10%) were classified as structurally deficient in 2015, and another 84,000 (14%) were classified as functionally obsolete. These figuresâalong with events such as the July 20, 2015, washout of the Interstate-10 Bridge near Desert Center, CA, and the partial closure of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which connects Washington, DC, to Northern Virginiaâhave led to claims that the United States is experiencing a crisis with respect to deficient bridges. Federal data do not substantiate this assertion. The numbers of bridges classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete have fallen consistently since at least 2000, and the proportion of all highway bridges falling into one or the other category is the lowest in decades.
The vast majority of structurally deficient bridges, roughly four out of five, are in rural areas. These bridges tend to be small and relatively lightly traveled. Structurally deficient bridges in urban areas, while far fewer, are generally much larger and, therefore, more expensive to fix: 55% of the deck area of structurally deficient bridges is on urban bridges. Bridges on roads carrying heavy traffic loads, particularly Interstate Highway bridges, are generally in better condition than those on more lightly traveled routes.
Federal funding for bridge building, reconstruction, and repair is authorized in surface transportation acts. The most recent authorization is the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act; P.L. 114-94), which was enacted on December 4, 2015. The FAST Act funds federal highway programs from FY2016 through FY2020 at a level about 2.4% above FY2015 levels, adjusted for expected inflation. The law did not authorize a program dedicated to highway bridges, but it made bridge projects broadly eligible for federal funding under the largest of the highway formula programs and eligible on a case-by-case basis under other programs. Bridges that are damaged by natural disasters or catastrophic events also may be eligible for Emergency Relief Program funds.
The condition of roads, in particular urban roads, has not experienced the same degree of improvement as the condition of bridges. This disparity raises the policy question of what priority should go to bridge repairs as opposed to roadway repairs. Congress has implicitly addressed this issue by giving states greater flexibility to use federal funding for roads or for bridges, at their discretion. Laws enacted in 2012 and again in 2015 have given states near-total authority to determine which projects to fund with federal highway funds, within broad guidelines established by Congress. As it oversees implementation of the FAST Act over the next few years, Congress may want to evaluate whether states are making sufficient progress in reducing the number of structurally deficient and functionally obsolete bridges and whether future laws should reestablish specific requirements for bridge spending.
