Pennsylvania finished fifth among the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. in a new analysis examining which states have the highest percentage of bridges in poor condition.
More than 47,000 bridges in the United States, out of a total of 616,087, were rated structurally deficient in a study released last month by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. If the deficient bridges were placed end to end, they would extend more than 1,000 miles, the report says.
Pennsylvania has a total of 22,737 bridges, with 3,770 designated as structurally deficient, according to the association. That works out to 16.6 percent of the total number.
Based on the number of bridges in poor condition, Pennsylvania ranks second highest in the nation.
The bridges identified are not considered imminently unsafe, according to the analysis, but they do need attention. The number of people crossing these bridges each day is estimated at 178 million.
States that have reduced their number of deficient bridges the most in the last five years include Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Indiana, California and Ohio, the association reported, while the states where the number of problematic bridges increased include West Virginia, Illinois, Florida, Montana and Louisiana.
The data for the study came from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory and is based on 2018 numbers.
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Which States Have the Highest Share of Deficient Bridges?
2018 % Deficient Rank | State | # of Bridges | # of Deficient Bridges | % Deficient Bridges | Rank Based on # of Deficient Bridges |
1 | Rhode Island | 780 | 180 | 23 | 44 |
2 | West Virginia | 7,269 | 1,444 | 20 | 12 |
3 | Iowa | 24,123 | 4,675 | 19 | 1 |
4 | South Dakota | 5,824 | 973 | 17 | 19 |
5 | Pennsylvania | 22,737 | 3,770 | 17 | 2 |
6 | Maine | 2,473 | 325 | 13 | 36 |
7 | Louisiana | 12,899 | 1,678 | 13 | 9 |
8 | Puerto Rico | 2,325 | 273 | 12 | 40 |
9 | Oklahoma | 23,116 | 2,540 | 11 | 3 |
10 | North Dakota | 4,355 | 469 | 11 | 31 |
11 | Michigan | 11,228 | 1,196 | 11 | 16 |
12 | North Carolina | 18,377 | 1,871 | 10 | 6 |
13 | New York | 17,521 | 1,757 | 10 | 8 |
14 | Alaska | 1,592 | 155 | 10 | 45 |
15 | Mississippi | 17,071 | 1,603 | 9 | 10 |
16 | Massachusetts | 5,215 | 481 | 9 | 29 |
17 | New Hampshire | 2,494 | 224 | 9 | 43 |
18 | Nebraska | 15,349 | 1,358 | 9 | 13 |
19 | Missouri | 24,512 | 2,116 | 9 | 5 |
20 | Illinois | 26,809 | 2,273 | 9 | 4 |
21 | South Carolina | 9,401 | 795 | 9 | 21 |
22 | Wyoming | 3,129 | 257 | 8 | 41 |
23 | New Jersey | 6,746 | 544 | 8 | 27 |
24 | Montana | 5,265 | 390 | 7 | 33 |
25 | Wisconsin | 14,275 | 1,054 | 7 | 17 |
26 | Connecticut | 4,270 | 308 | 7 | 38 |
27 | Kentucky | 14,368 | 1,016 | 7 | 18 |
28 | California | 25,737 | 1,812 | 7 | 7 |
29 | Idaho | 4,482 | 315 | 7 | 37 |
30 | Hawaii | 1,137 | 78 | 7 | 47 |
31 | Indiana | 19,280 | 1,203 | 6 | 15 |
32 | New Mexico | 4,010 | 232 | 6 | 42 |
33 | Ohio | 27,277 | 1,518 | 6 | 11 |
34 | Colorado | 8,786 | 473 | 5 | 30 |
35 | Kansas | 24,906 | 1,288 | 5 | 14 |
36 | Oregon | 8,161 | 422 | 5 | 32 |
37 | Maryland | 5,357 | 274 | 5 | 39 |
38 | Minnesota | 13,358 | 668 | 5 | 24 |
39 | Virginia | 13,931 | 646 | 5 | 25 |
40 | Washington | 8,278 | 382 | 5 | 34 |
41 | Arkansas | 12,892 | 588 | 5 | 26 |
42 | Tennessee | 20,177 | 871 | 4 | 20 |
43 | Alabama | 16,130 | 689 | 4 | 23 |
44 | Delaware | 863 | 34 | 4 | 50 |
45 | Georgia | 14,879 | 494 | 3 | 28 |
46 | District of Columbia | 244 | 8 | 3 | 52 |
47 | Florida | 12,435 | 328 | 3 | 35 |
48 | Vermont | 2,778 | 66 | 2 | 48 |
49 | Utah | 3,061 | 66 | 2 | 49 |
50 | Arizona | 8,294 | 150 | 2 | 46 |
51 | Nevada | 1,979 | 27 | 1 | 51 |
52 | Texas | 54,131 | 695 | 1 | 22 |