Transportation

PA Ranks Fifth Highest For Share Of Structurally Deficient Bridges


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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.

Which States Have the Highest Share of Deficient Bridges?

2018 % Deficient RankState# of Bridges# of Deficient Bridges% Deficient BridgesRank Based on # of Deficient Bridges
1Rhode Island7801802344
2West Virginia7,2691,4442012
3Iowa24,1234,675191
4South Dakota5,8249731719
5Pennsylvania22,7373,770172
6Maine2,4733251336
7Louisiana12,8991,678139
8Puerto Rico2,3252731240
9Oklahoma23,1162,540113
10North Dakota4,3554691131
11Michigan11,2281,1961116
12North Carolina18,3771,871106
13New York17,5211,757108
14Alaska1,5921551045
15Mississippi17,0711,603910
16Massachusetts5,215481929
17New Hampshire2,494224943
18Nebraska15,3491,358913
19Missouri24,5122,11695
20Illinois26,8092,27394
21South Carolina9,401795921
22Wyoming3,129257841
23New Jersey6,746544827
24Montana5,265390733
25Wisconsin14,2751,054717
26Connecticut4,270308738
27Kentucky14,3681,016718
28California25,7371,81277
29Idaho4,482315737
30Hawaii1,13778747
31Indiana19,2801,203615
32New Mexico4,010232642
33Ohio27,2771,518611
34Colorado8,786473530
35Kansas24,9061,288514
36Oregon8,161422532
37Maryland5,357274539
38Minnesota13,358668524
39Virginia13,931646525
40Washington8,278382534
41Arkansas12,892588526
42Tennessee20,177871420
43Alabama16,130689423
44Delaware86334450
45Georgia14,879494328
46District of Columbia2448352
47Florida12,435328335
48Vermont2,77866248
49Utah3,06166249
50Arizona8,294150246
51Nevada1,97927151
52Texas54,131695122

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The Center Square - Pennsylvania