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

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

A federal Transportation Department report last year broke down the condition of the 6,820 in New Jersey. Of the total number of bridges, 1,766 are in good condition, 4,612 are in fair condition and 442 are in poor condition.

Those bridges include 3,034 that are part of the National Highway System and are eligible for federal infrastructure money. Of the bridges in the federal highway system, 697 are in good condition, 2,182 are in fair condition and 155 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.

According to the same report, New Jersey has access to $492.2 million in bridge repair funds, and has committed $141.5 million towards 21 projects as of last June. In total, the state has identified needed repairs on 2,541 bridges, up from 2,357 identified in 2019.

However, the number of structurally deficient bridges has decreased over the last five years, with 529 structurally deficient bridges down to 442 in 2023.

According to the report, the most traveled structurally deficient bridges in the Garden State are:

• NJ495EB and Ramps B, J over NJ 3 EB & US 1 Ramp (Hudson County)
• I-80 over Passaic River (Passaic County)
• New Jersey Turnpike over Passaic River (Essex County)
• I-78 over Beaver Brook (Hunterdon County)
• US 46 over Lower Notch Road (Passaic County)

New Jersey ranks 31 in the U.S., compared to 27 in 2022, in structurally deficient bridges in that report. The 10 states 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