Report: 7.3% of America’s Bridges are “Structurally Deficient” in 2021, Down Slightly YOY

Each year, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) puts out their annual Bridge Report, which highlights the general state of America’s bridges. Their recently released 2021 report shows a slight decrease in the amount of structurally deficient bridges versus their report in 2020.

There are currently 618,000 bridges in the US, according to the ARTBA report, and roughly 45,000 of them have been rated as “structurally deficient,” which is a 1,140 bridge decrease versus last year’s report. The term signifies that there are “one or more structural defects that require attention.”

At the current rate, the ARTBA says that repairing every structurally deficient bridge in the US would take 40 years. On a positive note, this is the 5th straight year that the percentage of structurally deficient bridges has dropped.

Including the 45+ bridges listed as structurally deficient, there are over 220,000 bridges that have been identified as needing repaired, amounting to roughly 36% of the total fleet, a 1% reduction versus last year.

The states with the most bridges in poor condition are:

1.       Iowa – 4,571 (ranked #1 last year)

2.       Pennsylvania – 3,353 (ranked #2 last year)

3.       Illinois – 2,374 (ranked #3 last year)

4.       Oklahoma – 2,326 (ranked #4 last year)

5.       Missouri – 2,190 (ranked #5 last year)

The states with the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges are:

1.       West Virginia – 21% (ranked #2 last year)

2.       Iowa – 19.1% (ranked #3 last year)

3.       Rhode Island – 19% (ranked #1 last year)

4.       South Dakota – 17.7% (ranked #4 last year)

5.       Pennsylvania – 14.6% (ranked #5 last year)

ARTBA has also released an interactive state map (screenshot of the map is above), if you’d like more information on the problematic bridges in your area.  You can access that map on ARTBA's website by clicking or tapping here

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