After Baltimore Bridge Collapse, A Question: How Safe Are CA Bridges?

CALIFORNIA — The catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday is raising questions in California and elsewhere about the overall safety of bridges.

A federal Transportation Department report last year broke down the condition of the 25,818 in California. Of the total number of bridges, 11,907 are in good condition, 12,320 are in fair condition and 1,591 are in poor condition.

Those bridges include 10,897 that are part of the National Highway System and are eligible for federal infrastructure money. Of the bridges in the federal highway system, 5,655 are in good condition, 4,704 are in fair condition and 538 are in poor condition.

Overall, more than 42,400 of the nation’s roughly 621,500 bridges are rated in poor condition. Of those, about 4,450 of nearly 147,000 bridges in the federal highway system are rated as poor.

Another report using federal data and released by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association found 1 in 3 bridges in the United States should be repaired or replaced.

California has identified 1,781 bridges where repairs are needed, compared to 2,006 that needed work in 2019, according to the report. The state will get $2.9 billion in bridge formula funds to help with repairs over the life of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

California ranks 27th in structurally deficient bridges in that report. The 10 states and territories with the most structurally deficient bridges are:

1. West Virginia, 20 percent
2. Iowa, 19 percent
3. South Dakota, 17 percent
4. Rhode Island, 15 percent
5. Maine, 15 percent
6. Pennsylvania, 13 percent
7. Puerto Rico, 13 percent
8. Louisiana, 12 percent
9. Michigan, 11 percent
10. North Dakota, 11 percent

Read Baltimore Patch’s complete coverage of the bridge collapse:

• Bridge Collapses After Cargo Ship Hits It
• ‘I Didn’t Think It Was Real’: Residents React
• Photos: A Search For Survivors After Bridge Collapse