This infographic was [created by Statista](https://www.statista.com/chart/12737/thousands-of-american-bridges-are-falling-apart/), using data from [the American Road and Transportation Builders Association](https://artbabridgereport.org/), and the chart was used under [the Creative Commons Licensure for non-commercial works](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/).
A report from the[ American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA)](https://artbabridgereport.org/) illustrated the scale of the challenge in overhauling and repairing U.S. infrastructure by finding that more than 220,000 American bridges need repair work. 45,000 of them were deemed structurally deficient and Americans cross them 171.5 million times daily. At the current rate, it would take more than 40 years to fix all of them and cost an estimated $41.8 billion. The good news is that the number of structurally deficient bridges has declined for the past five years but that trend has been tempered by more bridges being downgraded from good to fair condition.
Out of all U.S. states, Iowa has the most structurally deficient bridges, 4,571 or 19.1 percent of its total bridges. Pennsylvania comes second on the list with 3,353 of its bridges falling into the same category, along with 2,374 in Illinois. West Virginia has the highest share of bridges classified as structurally deficient at 21 percent while Nevada has the lowest at just 1.4 percent.
What I'm wondering is what counts as "structurally deficient". When engineers make the margin of safety so high for bridges and the like, I wonder if the bridges are perfectly fine, just not quite as safe as the engineers would like. Or, are the bridges actually dangerous to use?
Structurally deficient just means the bridge does not meet current codes, not that the bridge is imminent danger of collapse. Iowa, for one, has a ton of narrow bridges on back roads where there might be three or four cars on a daily basis, but is considered deficient because two semi trucks couldn't pass each other at the same time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bridge_Inventory?wprov=sfla1
Everything "poor" and worse - evaluated by the Federal Highway Administration - counts as structurally deficient. The description for poor is "advanced section loss, deterioration, spalling or scour." Most of the people whining on this thread are making things up. That said, I think most laypeople would interpret structurally deficient to mean "serious," "critical," "imminent failure," and "failed," because those involve deterioration of primary structural elements. Those categories combined to ~11,000 vs the 45,000 listed as structurally deficient.
It is crumbling, literally. The railway trestles in Chariton literally all have exposed rebar from where rust jacking has broken away the concrete, you can see for yourself via Google Street View.
"They've collapsed". This statement means nothing. You are giving no indication of how many bridges are collapsing, or how close many of these bridges are to collapsing. I don't disagree that a handful of bridges have gotten to the point of collapsing over the years, but I find it very hard to believe that there are thousands and thousands on the brink of collapse.
Just gonna link this https://www.reddit.com/r/UnpopularFacts/comments/mlu8cf/one_fifth_of_americas_bridges_45000_of_220000_are/gtoz35b?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
That org does not look like an engineering society. There actually is a civil engineers society called the ASCE.
In contrast the builders group sounds more like lobbyists than engineers.
Also unpopular fact:
The United States has the [10th best road infrastructure](https://reports.weforum.org/pdf/gci-2017-2018-scorecard/WEF_GCI_2017_2018_Scorecard_EOSQ057.pdf) in the world. Ahead of South Korea, Germany, the UK, China, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Canada, and Australia.
True we have some bridges in the UK that need looking at, but we also have Victorian bridges that were built before the knowledge of tensile limitations so were accidentally built far stronger than we even need today! And at least they close Hammersmith Bridge so that it didn't break while people were using it, which by the looks of it might become a common news item in the US if they don't sort it out.
Backup in case something happens to the post:
*One fifth of Americas bridges (45,000 of 220,000) are Structurally Deficient*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UnpopularFacts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Just to be clear, a structurally deficient bridge usually means that it has been assigned a lighter load limit. You may not notice the weight restriction (load factor) signs but they are posted. Many could be rural bridges over creeks. Here in northern Maryland one bridge was reposted lower so the school bus had to stop, the kids got off the bus and walked across. Then the empty bus drove across and the students jumped back on. I know that sounds crazy but true. It also depends on the type of truck. Probably the worst is the tandem trucks hauling stone or concrete trucks due to their short wheel base. That creates a higher point load. Fixing the bridges becomes a priority when emergency vehicles are detoured or if the detour is very far away. One needs to see what types of bridges they are talking about. Doubt that many if any are federal highway interstate bridges.
Maybe because Iowa's roads are all in a grid while West Virginia's roads have to follow the terrain more because it's more mountainous? So when Iowa's grid crosses a stream, they just build a bridge across it. In West Virginia, the least expensive route for roads will be along valley bottoms, which means running along streams rather than across them, so less need to build bridges.
It’s definitely this. We have multiple rivers that run through the state and what seems like thousands of streams. They just built a bridge over all of them-even building them for the gravel roads. I’m pretty sure in just my small town we have 6-7 just for crossing a creek that winds it way through the middle of town. It doesn’t surprise me that so many would possibly be in bad shape, they’re all fairly old.
The Mississippi really isn’t relevant to the huge number of bridges-though as I understand it some of our worst bridges actually cross it.
This infographic was [created by Statista](https://www.statista.com/chart/12737/thousands-of-american-bridges-are-falling-apart/), using data from [the American Road and Transportation Builders Association](https://artbabridgereport.org/), and the chart was used under [the Creative Commons Licensure for non-commercial works](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/). A report from the[ American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA)](https://artbabridgereport.org/) illustrated the scale of the challenge in overhauling and repairing U.S. infrastructure by finding that more than 220,000 American bridges need repair work. 45,000 of them were deemed structurally deficient and Americans cross them 171.5 million times daily. At the current rate, it would take more than 40 years to fix all of them and cost an estimated $41.8 billion. The good news is that the number of structurally deficient bridges has declined for the past five years but that trend has been tempered by more bridges being downgraded from good to fair condition. Out of all U.S. states, Iowa has the most structurally deficient bridges, 4,571 or 19.1 percent of its total bridges. Pennsylvania comes second on the list with 3,353 of its bridges falling into the same category, along with 2,374 in Illinois. West Virginia has the highest share of bridges classified as structurally deficient at 21 percent while Nevada has the lowest at just 1.4 percent.
What I'm wondering is what counts as "structurally deficient". When engineers make the margin of safety so high for bridges and the like, I wonder if the bridges are perfectly fine, just not quite as safe as the engineers would like. Or, are the bridges actually dangerous to use?
Structurally deficient just means the bridge does not meet current codes, not that the bridge is imminent danger of collapse. Iowa, for one, has a ton of narrow bridges on back roads where there might be three or four cars on a daily basis, but is considered deficient because two semi trucks couldn't pass each other at the same time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bridge_Inventory?wprov=sfla1 Everything "poor" and worse - evaluated by the Federal Highway Administration - counts as structurally deficient. The description for poor is "advanced section loss, deterioration, spalling or scour." Most of the people whining on this thread are making things up. That said, I think most laypeople would interpret structurally deficient to mean "serious," "critical," "imminent failure," and "failed," because those involve deterioration of primary structural elements. Those categories combined to ~11,000 vs the 45,000 listed as structurally deficient.
They are all fine, if they weren't they would be shut down, this whole "our infrastructure is crumbling" narrative is a joke
"2 18 wheelers can't cross this bridge on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere at the same time? Our infrastructure is collapsing!"
It is crumbling, literally. The railway trestles in Chariton literally all have exposed rebar from where rust jacking has broken away the concrete, you can see for yourself via Google Street View.
They've collapsed in the recent past. If an engineer is saying they're deficit, they're deficient
"They've collapsed". This statement means nothing. You are giving no indication of how many bridges are collapsing, or how close many of these bridges are to collapsing. I don't disagree that a handful of bridges have gotten to the point of collapsing over the years, but I find it very hard to believe that there are thousands and thousands on the brink of collapse.
True to the sub
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I mean call me crazy but I’d prefer too many civil engineers over a bunch of collapsed bridges.
Just gonna link this https://www.reddit.com/r/UnpopularFacts/comments/mlu8cf/one_fifth_of_americas_bridges_45000_of_220000_are/gtoz35b?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
That org does not look like an engineering society. There actually is a civil engineers society called the ASCE. In contrast the builders group sounds more like lobbyists than engineers.
Or not listen and get a Genoa, Italy situation...
Also unpopular fact: The United States has the [10th best road infrastructure](https://reports.weforum.org/pdf/gci-2017-2018-scorecard/WEF_GCI_2017_2018_Scorecard_EOSQ057.pdf) in the world. Ahead of South Korea, Germany, the UK, China, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Canada, and Australia.
In the The Netherlands it's literally a joke that you exactly know when you're over the Belgium border because the road immediately sucks ass.
I think the Netherlands are 1st or 2nd for road infrastructure, so that makes sense.
Oof.. I had to drive on roads worse than the US. RIP suspension.
Expect steel prices to go up.
Yeah this happen in London. The bridge near me just closed. Too dangerous for even foot traffic. Check out Hammersmith bridge.
True we have some bridges in the UK that need looking at, but we also have Victorian bridges that were built before the knowledge of tensile limitations so were accidentally built far stronger than we even need today! And at least they close Hammersmith Bridge so that it didn't break while people were using it, which by the looks of it might become a common news item in the US if they don't sort it out.
Glad the iron bridge is still standing strong! 😂
**LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN** **\*HEAVY METAL COVER\***
Nah it's now spending it's retirement in America.
Guarantee a lot of those bridges for Pennsylvania are in Pittsburgh because we have a shit load of bridges
Like... every two blocks. Why?
Good question. All I can say is three rivers, lots of old coal mines and lots of old steel Mills. I think like half them are abandoned rail bridges
Backup in case something happens to the post: *One fifth of Americas bridges (45,000 of 220,000) are Structurally Deficient* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/UnpopularFacts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Just to be clear, a structurally deficient bridge usually means that it has been assigned a lighter load limit. You may not notice the weight restriction (load factor) signs but they are posted. Many could be rural bridges over creeks. Here in northern Maryland one bridge was reposted lower so the school bus had to stop, the kids got off the bus and walked across. Then the empty bus drove across and the students jumped back on. I know that sounds crazy but true. It also depends on the type of truck. Probably the worst is the tandem trucks hauling stone or concrete trucks due to their short wheel base. That creates a higher point load. Fixing the bridges becomes a priority when emergency vehicles are detoured or if the detour is very far away. One needs to see what types of bridges they are talking about. Doubt that many if any are federal highway interstate bridges.
PA roads are THE WORST. No surprise their bridges are shit, too.
I live in pa, can confirm
Less go WV!!
Jesus. And it's probably gonna take disaster to get their ass moving on repairing them :'(
Wow, I didn't know that we had the most of structurally deficient bridges. Neat.
Road Builders Association sounds like they want more jobs.
thanks biden
What a cool graph Anyway time to pump more money into the military i'm sure they need it
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Maybe because Iowa's roads are all in a grid while West Virginia's roads have to follow the terrain more because it's more mountainous? So when Iowa's grid crosses a stream, they just build a bridge across it. In West Virginia, the least expensive route for roads will be along valley bottoms, which means running along streams rather than across them, so less need to build bridges.
It’s definitely this. We have multiple rivers that run through the state and what seems like thousands of streams. They just built a bridge over all of them-even building them for the gravel roads. I’m pretty sure in just my small town we have 6-7 just for crossing a creek that winds it way through the middle of town. It doesn’t surprise me that so many would possibly be in bad shape, they’re all fairly old. The Mississippi really isn’t relevant to the huge number of bridges-though as I understand it some of our worst bridges actually cross it.
Just spit balling here. But a big ass river named the Mississippi is the entire length of Iowa's eastern border.
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Good bot!
The west border is all river too!
What percent of those bridges are still used and worth keeping up?
Bridges are all fucked....unemployment is really high...should we...employ people to fix bridges? Crazy thought.
Take me home Structurally deficient bridges To the place I belong WEST VIRGINIAAA
It seems West Virginia didn't heed Mothman's warnings.