Nearly 300 MD Bridges Need Repair, Among About 35K In Poor Shape

MARYLAND — Even though thousands of bridges across the country, including ones in Maryland, could see repairs as part of President Joe Biden’s proposed infrastructure plan, recent data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration suggests the part of the plan that addresses bridge repair might not nearly be enough.

The highway administration’s recently released 2020 report on bridge conditions shows Maryland with 1,773 bridges in good condition, 3,384 in fair condition and 273 in poor condition.

That’s 891 miles of bridges in Maryland in good condition, with 2,382 miles in fair condition and 112miles in poor condition.

The Maryland bridges rated poor are among more than 35,000 to receive the low mark nationally, NBC News found in an analysis of the highway administration’s data.

Bridges were rated based on their deck, superstructure and substructure, with culverts — drain or channel crossings — included in the ratings as well. The bridges with an overall rating of seven or above are labeled good, with those rated five or six classified as fair and those with a rating of four or lower considered poor.

The highway administration’s report also looks at the condition of bridges in Maryland in relation to how old they are. In the state, of the bridges rated “poor,” 19 were built during the 1980s, six in the 1990s, five in the 2000s and none in the 2010s.

The State Highway Administration last updated its list of bridges rated poor in March 2019. Here's what the state website shows:

• Number of poor rated bridges on March 15, 2018: 62
• Number of poor rated bridges addressed in 2018: 18
• Number of bridges which became poor rated in 2018: 8
• Total number of structurally deficient bridges on March 15, 2019: 52

Part of Biden’s infrastructure proposal, called the “American Jobs Plan,” includes about $115 billion to repair highways, roads and bridges, according to an NPR report. Negotiations on the infrastructure bill have stalled between the Biden administration and Senate Republicans, however, as a group of centrist senators have been called on to help reach a compromise.

As Biden’s plan stood in late May, 10,000 or so of the nation’s smaller bridges would be repaired, according to NBC News.

That might not be nearly enough, especially in the rural areas of America where the highway administration’s data shows bridges are in most need of repair. Largely, bridges with two lanes or fewer were rated as in most need of repair in their most recent inspection, NBC News reported.

Iowa is in the most need of bridge repairs, the data shows, with Pennsylvania and West Virginia close behind.

In Iowa alone, more than 4,400 small, rural bridges need repair, NBC News reported.

Mark Nahra, president of the Iowa County Engineers Association who has worked on bridges in the state for nearly four decades, told NBC that usually “the bridges that are in poor condition have less than 10 years of estimated remaining life.”