Nearly 59,000 Bridges Listed as Structurally Deficient
There are still 58,500 structurally deficient bridges in the U.S., according to a review of the 2015 National Bridge Inventory database conducted by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

Photo: NTSB

Photo: NTSB
There are still 58,500 structurally deficient bridges in the U.S. according to a review of the 2015 National Bridge Inventory database conducted by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.
The 2015 National Bridge Inventory recently released by the Department of Transportation shows that the number of bridges classified as structurally deficient did drop last year by around 2,500, but ARTBA estimates that at the current rate it will take at least 21 years before they are all replaced or upgraded.
While structurally deficient bridges make up around 9.5% of all of the country’s 610,000 bridges, ARTBA found that passenger and commercial vehicles cross these bridges nearly 204 million times a day.
A structurally deficient classification indicates that the bridge is in need of repair and that one or more of the key bridge elements, such as the deck, superstructure or substructure, is considered to be in poor or worse condition, according to ARTBA. State transportation departments inspect bridges regularly for deterioration as a matter of public safety and use the scale of 0-9 to indicate the current state of the bridge. Structurally deficient bridges score a 4 or lower.
The rating does not mean that the bridges are unsafe, but it is used to educate the public and government officials on the state of their roads.
“Every year we have new bridges move on the list as structures deteriorate, or move off the list as improvements are made,” said Alison Premo Black, ARTBA’s chief economist. “It’s going to take major new investments by all levels of government to move toward eliminating the huge backlog of bridge work in the United States.”
Iowa, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas make up the top five states with the most structurally deficient bridges.
For a state by state breakdown and analysis, visit the ARTBA bridge report website.
More Fleet Management

Kodiak Lines Up Fleets for Driverless Trucking
An agreement for 75 trucks, a new Texas freight lane, and progress on safety validation move Kodiak closer to its planned driverless highway launch.
Read More →
ITS Logistics Settles Religious Harassment Case
The Nevada-based logistics firm agreed to pay more than $396,000 to settle a religious harassment charge involving an employee's Jewish identity.
Read More →
Your Trucks Are Busy. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Winning.
High utilization doesn’t always mean strong margins. Looking beyond the current load can help fleets make better dispatch decisions and get more value from each truck’s time.
Read More →
Why This Trucking Recovery Is Different
Freight demand remains sluggish, but rising costs and tougher enforcement have taken enough capacity out of the market to change the outlook for motor carriers.
Read More →
Platform Science Adds Dispatch and Safety Tools
Four additions to PS Fleet help fleets monitor loads, manage driver coaching, share truck locations and adjust video system settings.
Read More →
PrePass Intelligence Mines Fleet Bypass, Toll and Safety Data
PrePass Intelligence helps fleets measure bypass savings, flag potential toll overcharges, and spot suspicious transactions by combining data from separate systems.
Read More →
Motive Adds AI Agents for Fleet Operations
New tools automate follow-up on fleet data, from maintenance work orders to driver alerts, with two-way voice conversations planned for later this year.
Read More →Can You Beat Our Trucking Trivia Challenge?
Test your truck knowledge with 19 trivia questions from Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange. Can you keep up with the fleet pros?
Read More →
BeyondTrucks Adds Rules Checks to Dispatch
New Compatibility Engine checks driver qualifications, equipment requirements and fleet policies before loads are dispatched.
Read More →
Diesel Prices Hijack Trucking’s Worry List
ATRI’s annual survey finds cautious optimism about freight, but diesel costs, litigation, and insurance continue to squeeze fleets. Drivers have different priorities on several issues.
Read More →
