Report: R.I. has highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in nation

PROVIDENCE – For the second year in a row, Rhode Island ranked first in the nation for its high percentage of structurally deficient bridges.
Twenty-three percent of bridges in the Ocean State fall into the structurally deficient category, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, which released on Thursday its annual review of state bridge data collected by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Of Rhode Island’s 766 bridges, 178 are structurally deficient, the association said. That’s four more than were reported last year.
Structurally deficient means at least one key bridge element, such as the deck, superstructure or substructure, is in poor condition. Another 251 bridges, or 33 percent, are classified as functionally obsolete. That means the bridge does not meet current design standards, the association said.
The association also said that since 2004, 53 new bridges have been constructed in the state and 45 have undergone major reconstruction. Federal investment supported $1.1 billion for capital improvements to 719 bridges between 2005 and 2014.
RhodeWorks, which will toll large, commercial trucks, was promoted by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and some legislators as a way to fix the state’s crumbling infrastructure. Raimondo signed RhodeWorks into law last week after favorable votes in the House and Senate. A spokesman for the R.I. Department of Transportation has said the toll gantries should be in place within the next 18 to 24 months.

The association also listed the most heavily traveled bridges in Rhode Island that are structurally deficient. Here are the top five:

  • Interstate 95 northbound and southbound over US-1, Elmwood Avenue, Providence County, 186,500 daily crossings.
  • Broad Street over I-95 northbound and southbound and the P&W Railroad, Providence County, 179,600 daily crossings.
  • I-95 northbound and southbound over Amtrak, Providence County, 159,200 daily crossings.
  • I-95 northbound and southbound over Jefferson Boulevard, Kent County, 156,400 daily crossings.
  • I-95 northbound and southbound over Wellington Avenue, Providence County, 147,934 daily crossings.

Nationwide, Rhode Island ranks 45th for its number of structurally deficient bridges. Iowa ranks first for having the most structurally deficient bridges at 5,025 bridges, or 20.7 percent of its total number.
Massachusetts, in comparison, is 31st on the list ranking states by total number of deficient bridges with 461 – or 8.9 percent – out of 5,167; it moves up to 23rd when ranked on percentage alone.
Nationwide, the association said there are nearly 204 million daily crossings on 58,495 U.S. structurally deficient bridges in need of repair.
“It’s going to take major new investments by all levels of government to move toward eliminating the huge backlog of bridge work in the United States,” Alison Premo Black, the association’s chief economist, said in a statement.

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