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

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

A federal Transportation Department report last year broke down the condition of the 23,257 in Pennsylvania. Of the total number of bridges, 7,880 are in good condition, 12,355 are in fair condition and 3,022 are in poor condition.

Those bridges include 5,861 that are part of the National Highway System and are eligible for federal infrastructure money. Of the bridges in the federal highway system, 1,859 are in good condition, 3,741 are in fair condition and 261 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, Pennsylvania has access to $706.8 million in bridge repair funds, and has committed $406.6 million towards 231 projects as of June 2023. In total, the state has identified needed repairs on 12,409 bridges, up from 11,882 identified in 2019.

However, the number of structurally deficient bridges has decreased over the last five years, with 3,501 structurally deficient bridges down to 3,022 in 2023.

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

• Interstate 95 over Tacony and Bridge Streets
• Interstate 95 over Fraley Street
• Interstate 95 over Comly Street
• Interstate 95 over Earth Fill & Sewer Access
• Delaware Expressway over Venango Street

Pennsylvania ranks no. 6 in the U.S. 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