Louisiana ranks 7th highest for its share of structurally deficient bridges

Louisiana finished seventh-worst out of 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., in a new analysis examining which states have the highest percentage of bridges in poor condition.

More than 47,000 bridges in the United States, out of a total of 616,087, were rated structurally deficient in a study released last month by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. If the deficient bridges were placed end to end, they would extend more than 1,000 miles, the report states.

Louisiana has a total of 12,899 bridges, with 1,678 designated as structurally deficient, according to the association– or 13 percent of the total number.

Based on the number of bridges in poor condition, Louisiana ranks ninth highest in the U.S.

The bridges identified are not considered imminently unsafe, according to the analysis, but they do need attention. The number of people crossing these bridges each day is estimated at 178 million.

States that have reduced their number of deficient bridges the most in the last five years include Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Indiana, California and Ohio, the association reported, while the states where the number of problematic bridges increased include West Virginia, Illinois, Florida, Montana and Louisiana.

The data for the study came from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Bridge Inventory and is based on 2018 numbers.

Which States Have the Highest Share of Deficient Bridges?

2018 % Deficient Rank State # of Bridges # of Deficient Bridges % Deficient Bridges Rank Based on # of Deficient Bridges
1 Rhode Island 780 180 23 44
2 West Virginia 7,269 1,444 20 12
3 Iowa 24,123 4,675 19 1
4 South Dakota 5,824 973 17 19
5 Pennsylvania 22,737 3,770 17 2
6 Maine 2,473 325 13 36
7 Louisiana 12,899 1,678 13 9
8 Puerto Rico 2,325 273 12 40
9 Oklahoma 23,116 2,540 11 3
10 North Dakota 4,355 469 11 31
11 Michigan 11,228 1,196 11 16
12 North Carolina 18,377 1,871 10 6
13 New York 17,521 1,757 10 8
14 Alaska 1,592 155 10 45
15 Mississippi 17,071 1,603 9 10
16 Massachusetts 5,215 481 9 29
17 New Hampshire 2,494 224 9 43
18 Nebraska 15,349 1,358 9 13
19 Missouri 24,512 2,116 9 5
20 Illinois 26,809 2,273 9 4
21 South Carolina 9,401 795 9 21
22 Wyoming 3,129 257 8 41
23 New Jersey 6,746 544 8 27
24 Montana 5,265 390 7 33
25 Wisconsin 14,275 1,054 7 17
26 Connecticut 4,270 308 7 38
27 Kentucky 14,368 1,016 7 18
28 California 25,737 1,812 7 7
29 Idaho 4,482 315 7 37
30 Hawaii 1,137 78 7 47
31 Indiana 19,280 1,203 6 15
32 New Mexico 4,010 232 6 42
33 Ohio 27,277 1,518 6 11
34 Colorado 8,786 473 5 30
35 Kansas 24,906 1,288 5 14
36 Oregon 8,161 422 5 32
37 Maryland 5,357 274 5 39
38 Minnesota 13,358 668 5 24
39 Virginia 13,931 646 5 25
40 Washington 8,278 382 5 34
41 Arkansas 12,892 588 5 26
42 Tennessee 20,177 871 4 20
43 Alabama 16,130 689 4 23
44 Delaware 863 34 4 50
45 Georgia 14,879 494 3 28
46 District of Columbia 244 8 3 52
47 Florida 12,435 328 3 35
48 Vermont 2,778 66 2 48
49 Utah 3,061 66 2 49
50 Arizona 8,294 150 2 46
51 Nevada 1,979 27 1 51
52 Texas 54,131 695 1 22

Source: American Road & Transportation Builders Association

This is a revised article first published on The Center Square.

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