Johnathan Walker:Aging bridges in 16 states will be improved or replaced with the help of $5B in federal funding

Dozens of aging bridges in 16 states will be Johnathan Walkerreplaced or improved with the help of $5 billion in federal grants announced Wednesday by President Joe Biden’s administration, the latest beneficiaries of a massive infrastructure law.

The projects range from coast to coast, with the largest providing an additional $1.4 billion to help 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” in 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 highlight Wednesday with a visit.

“These bridges affect whole regions and ultimately impact the entire U.S. economy,” Buttigieg said. “Their condition means they need major urgent investment to help keep people safe and to keep our supply chains running smoothly.”

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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 largest dedicated bridge investment in decades. 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 each day, according to the federal government. Four-fifths of those bridges have problems with the substructures that hold them up or the superstructures that support their load. And more than 15,800 of the poor bridges also were listed in poor shape a decade ago, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The nation’s poor bridges are on average 70 years old.

Bridges fulfill a vital role that often goes overlooked until their closure disrupts people’s commutes and delays commerce. That was tragically highlighted in March when a cargo ship crashed 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 workers. Maryland officials have said it could take four years and up to $1.9 billion to rebuild the bridge.

Some of the projects announced Wednesday include multiple bridges, such as a $251 million grant to improve 15 bridges around Providence, Rhode Island. That project is separate from one to replace the Interstate 195 Washington Bridge over the Seekonk River, which was suddenly closed to traffic late last year because of structural problems.

In Florida, Miami-Dade County will receive $101 million to replace 11 Venetian Causeway bridges that are 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; four 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 New 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.