The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded nearly $1 billion in infrastructure funding in the latest round of its long-popular RAISE grant program.
The new infrastructure statute boosts RAISE's funding to $1.5 billion per year for the next five years, up 50% from the 2021 level of $1 billion, according to figures compiled by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
According to the 2022 Bridge Report by Dr. Alison Premo Black, Chief Economist of ARTBA (American Road & Transportation Builders Association), 1 out of 3 U.S. bridges need to be replaced or repaired. That is 36% -nearly 224,000 of all bridges in the country. 78,800 of those bridges should be replaced completely. More than 43,500 bridges were deemed "structurally deficient". This number declined by 1,445 compared to 2020. However, at this rate, it would take nearly 30 years to repair them all.
The states with the largest number of bridges in poor conditions (as of the year 2020) are:
Iowa - 4,504 bridges
Pennsylvania - 3,198 bridges
Illinois - 2,405 bridges
Oklahoma - 2,296 bridges
Missouri - 2,218 bridges
New York - 1,672 bridges
Louisiana - 1,631 bridges
California - 1,493 bridges
West Virginia - 1,490 bridges
Ohio - 1,334 bridges
It is for this reason that construction contractors and DOT certified companies are shifting their efforts to tap into the benefits that road and bridge repair will bring, providing job security for many years to come.
This information has been curated by Vicky Strand from White Cap.
