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1 1 (May 19, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdanh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Researh Sevice Condition of Highway Bridges Continues to Improve May 19, 2020 A construction-industry group recently estimated that more than one-third of all U.S. highway bridges need major repairs or replacement, construction work that could cost federal, state, and local governments about S 164 billion. When compared to total bridge capital spending of about S 17 billion per year, of which roughly $7 billion is federal support, some might consider this bridge investment backlog to be a significant budgetary challenge. Others say the situation is probably not as dire as this analysis suggests. The data used in that estimate, published every year by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), continue to show that the number and share of bridges in poor condition have dropped significantly over the past 20 years. Furthermore, repairing every deficient bridge in just a few years is unrealistic, and not every bridge repair is likely to be justified when considering both the economic benefits and costs. FHWA's own analysis of bridge data suggests a relatively modest increase in spending could substantially reduce or eliminate the backlog of economically justifiable investments if sustained over a 20-year period. Bridge Conditions Federal law requires states to inspect public road bridges periodically and to report their findings to FHWA. This information permits FHWA to characterize the existing condition of bridges as good, fair, or poor. A bridge is considered in good condition if the deck, superstructure, and substructure are rated at least 7 on a 0-to-9 scale. If any of these bridge elements is rated 5 or 6, a bridge is considered in fair condition. Abridge is considered in poor condition if any element is rated 4 or less. At the end of 2019, according to FHWA, of the 617,000 bridges in the United States about 46,000 were in poor condition. This represented about 7.5% of all bridges. About 291,000 (47%) were classified as fair and 280,000 were classified as good (45%). The number and share of bridges considered in poor condition have been cut in half over the past 20 years, although this conclusion is complicated by a methodological change in the way bridges are classified. Prior to the change, FHWA used the term structurally deficient, which included bridges in poor condition and some others, such as those with an inadequate waterway opening. Fewer bridges, therefore, are rated poor than structurally deficient (Figure 1). The difference between structurally deficient and poor bridges was about 7,500 bridges in 2016, 1.2% of the total bridge count. Both urban Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11395 CRS }NStGHT Prepaed for Members and Cornnittees o4 Cor~qress ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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