Background and Knowledge - Bridge safety classifications and budget sources
The FHWA defines structurally deficient bridges as those that "have been restricted to light vehicles, require immediate rehabilitation to remain open, or are closed." This classification should not be confused with "functionally obsolete," which are bridges whose capacities no longer support the roads they serve due to factors like inadequate lane width or load height clearance. While you will often see these two categories reported together, structurally deficient bridges are those considered the most likely to suffer structural failure. Most structurally deficient bridges are left open to traffic while they undergo maintenance and repair.
How states use federal bridge funds? Under the federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program, each state is eligible to receive funds based on its share of the total cost to repair or replace all structurally deficient bridges nationwide.
Most states also allocate a portion of their own budgets to bridge maintenance, especially bridges that are not part of the federal interstate highway system, and smaller bridges in towns and rural areas.
The states do have latitude in deciding how they spend their federal bridge funds. Some states choose to spend all of their funds on bridge inspection, maintenance and replacement. Other states choose to use some of the funds on traditional highway construction projects.
According to the bipartisan Surface Transportation Policy Project, annual total federal funding distributed to the states for bridge programs increased from $2.1 billion in 1992, to $4.3 billion by 2001, while actual state expenditures of those funds on
bridge projects increased from $1.8 billion to $2.9 billion over the same period.
"As of 2003, 27.1% of the nation's bridges (160,570) were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, an improvement from 28.5% in 2000. In fact, over the past 12 years, the number of bridge deficiencies has steadily declined from 34.6% in 1992 to 27.1% in 2003. The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) strategic plan states that by 2008, less than 25% of the nation's bridges should be classified as deficient. If that goal were met, 1 in 4 bridges in the nation would still be deficient. There were 590,750 bridges in the United States in 2000; however, one in three urban bridges (31.2% or 43,189) was classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, much higher than the national average. In contrast, 25.6% (118,381) of rural bridges were classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete." -- American Society of Civil Engineers Bridge Report Card 2005.
For Massachusetts, according to the Patch, issue of Jan 30, 2018, Mike Carraggi, Patch Staff, Bay State drivers cross bridges 113 million times a day. If you're one of those 113 million trips, you may not want to hear about this new report.
More than 9 percent of bridges (482 of them) in Massachusetts are considered "structurally deficient," according to an analysis of federal data conducted by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. That amounts to 482 structurally deficient bridges, 67 of which are on the Interstate Highway System. Massachusetts ranked 21st in the country in highest percentage of bridges deemed to be in poor condition and 32d highest based on the actual number of such bridges.
(work in progress)
Petition Sign-up --- Build a form to allow online sign-up
https://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/massachusetts-has-482-structurally-deficient-bridges-report
Mass Laws governing bridge safety: MA MGL Section 35 https://malegislature.gov/laws/generallaws/parti/titlexiv/chapter85/section35
MGL §85_84 REPAIR OF WAYS AND BRIDGES https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter84
Bridge Inspection Handbook massDOT https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2019/04/23/dot-hwy-bih-chapter6.pdf
NBIS National Bridge Inspection Standard, John Thiel
Office of Bridges and Structures
202-366-8795
E-mail John
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbis.cfm
US Gov. CFR 49 Code of Bridge Inspections
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2019-title49-vol4/CFR-2019-title49-vol4-sec237-109/context