Dozens of aging bridges in 16 states might be replaced or improved with the assistance of $5 billion in federal grants announced Wednesday by President Joe Biden’s administration, the newest beneficiaries of a large infrastructure law.
The projects range from coast to coast, with the biggest providing a further $1.4 billion to assist replace two vertical lift bridges over the Columbia River that carry Interstate 5 traffic between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. The bridges, which also received $600 million in December, are “the worst trucking bottleneck” within the region, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.
Other projects receiving $500 million or more include the Sagamore Bridge in in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; an Interstate 10 bridge project in Mobile, Alabama; and the Interstate 83 South bridge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which Buttigieg planned to spotlight Wednesday with a visit.
“These bridges affect whole regions and ultimately impact your entire U.S. economy,” Buttigieg said. “Their condition means they need major urgent investment to assist keep people secure and to maintain our supply chains running easily.”
The grants come from a $1.2 trillion infrastructure law signed by Biden in 2021 that directed $40 billion to bridges over five years — the biggest dedicated bridge investment in many years. Biden has been touting the infrastructure law while campaigning for reelection against former President Donald Trump.
But even Wednesday’s large grants will make only a dent in what the American Road & Transportation Builders Association estimates to be $319 billion of needed bridge repairs across the U.S.
About 42,400 bridges are in poor condition nationwide, yet they carry about 167 million vehicles every day, in keeping with the federal government. 4-fifths of those bridges have problems with the substructures that hold them up or the superstructures that support their load. And greater than 15,800 of the poor bridges also were listed in poor shape a decade ago, in keeping with an Associated Press evaluation.
The nation’s poor bridges are on average 70 years old.
Bridges fulfill an important role that usually goes ignored until their closure disrupts people’s commutes and delays commerce. That was tragically highlighted in March when a cargo ship crashed right into a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, causing the bridge to crumple into the water and killing six road crew employees. Maryland officials have said it could take 4 years and as much as $1.9 billion to rebuild the bridge.
Among the projects announced Wednesday include multiple bridges, resembling a $251 million grant to enhance 15 bridges around Windfall, Rhode Island. That project is separate from one to interchange the Interstate 195 Washington Bridge over the Seekonk River, which was suddenly closed to traffic late last 12 months due to structural problems.
In Florida, Miami-Dade County will receive $101 million to interchange 11 Venetian Causeway bridges which might be nearly a century old.
Other bridge projects receiving funding include the Interstate 55 bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Arkansas and Tennessee; the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge in Wilmington, North Carolina; 4 bridges carrying Interstate 95 over Lake Marion in South Carolina; the U.S. 70 bridge over Lake Texoma in Oklahoma; two bridges carrying Interstate 25 over Nogal Canyon in Latest Mexico; the 18th Street bridge in Kansas City, Kansas; and the Market Street bridge over the Ohio River connecting Steubenville, Ohio, with East Steubenville, West Virginia.
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
