More than 63,000 bridges across the United States are in urgent need of repair, with most of the aging, structurally compromised structures part of the interstate highway system, an analysis of recent federal data has found, according to USA Today.
The report, released on Thursday by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, warned that the dangerous bridges are used some 250 million times a day by trucks, school buses, passenger cars and other vehicles, USA Today reported.
The group, which represents the U.S. transportation construction market, analyzed recent U.S. Department of Transportation data for its study, according to USA Today. Pennsylvania led the list of structurally deficient bridges, with 5,218, followed by Iowa, Oklahoma, Missouri and California; Nevada, Delaware, Utah, Alaska and Hawaii had the least.
Overall, there are more than 607,000 bridges in the United States, according to the DOT's Federal Highway Administration, and most are more than 40 years old, USA Today reported.
The Transportation Department routinely inspects bridges and rates them on a scale of zero to nine, according to USA Today. Bridges receiving a grade of four or below are considered structurally deficient, and now account for more than 10 percent of all bridges.
States rely heavily on federal funds to pay for road and bridge projects but could face funding shortfalls by late August as the federal Highway Trust Fund draws closer to insolvency without congressional action, USA Today reported.
A temporary measure that provided funding for road and bridge projects for two years is set to expire in September, and the transportation industry has urged Congress to act quickly to keep the funds flowing, according to USA Today.
"The bridge problem sits squarely on the backs of our elected officials," Black said, USA Today reported. "The state transportation departments can't just wave a magic wand and make the problem go away."
The civil engineers' group estimates that the U.S. will need to invest $3.6 trillion by 2020 to keep its transportation infrastructure in a good state of repair, according to USA Today.
