The Most Traveled Bridge in Pennsylvania That Doesn’t Meet Safety Standards
Decades of neglect and lack of investment have left over 46,000 bridges in the United States in a state of disrepair. To address this, President Joe Biden signed into law in November 2021 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which allocates $550 billion to rebuilding key infrastructure. Still, necessary repairs may take years, and each day, Americans make 178 million trips across bridges deemed to be structurally deficient.
A structurally deficient bridge is defined by the Federal Highway Administration as one in which any component – the deck, superstructure, substructure, or culverts – is in poor or worse condition.
According to advocacy group American Road & Transportation Builders Association, there are 3,198 bridges considered to be structurally deficient in Pennsylvania – equal to 13.8% of all bridges in the state. For context, 7.0% of bridges nationwide are considered structurally deficient.
Of the bridges in poor or worse condition in the state, the bridge on I-95 over Fraley St. in Philadelphia County – built in 1967 – carries the largest number of commuters and travelers, with an estimated 202,857 daily crossings on average.
It is important to note that structurally deficient bridges do not necessarily pose imminent risk to those crossing. They do, however, require significant investment to avoid becoming hazardous or to avoid restrictions on the weight or speed of vehicles crossing.
StateMost traveled bridge in poor conditionLocationYear builtAvg. daily crossingsAlabamaI-459 over the Cahaba RiverJefferson County198199,312AlaskaSouth Tongass Highway over Hoadley CreekKetchikan Gateway Borough195717,165ArizonaShea Boulevard over Indian Bend WashMaricopa County197648,700ArkansasI-30, Sec 23 over the Arkansas RiverPulaski County1958119,000CaliforniaU.S. Highway 101 over Kester AveLos Angeles County1959293,000ColoradoI-70 over U.S. Route 6Denver County1964157,000ConnecticutI-95 over Metro NorthNew Haven County1956136,400DelawareRed Mill Rd. over stream Mill PondNew Castle County197122,887FloridaSouthbound I-95 over Sistrunk Blvd.Broward County1975156,000GeorgiaI-75 over Swamp CreekWhitfield County196166,210HawaiiKalaniana’ole Highway over Niu StreamHonolulu County193458,500IdahoState Highway 33 over the Teton RiverMadison County197122,000IllinoisI-90 Express over Stewart Ave.Cook County1962203,100IndianaI-65 over Ohio St.Marion County1974186,289IowaCentennial BridgeScott County194030,600KansasCollege Blvd. over Indian CreekJohnson County197621,800KentuckyI-65 over Grade Ln.Jefferson County1988166,770LouisianaCalcasieu River BridgeCalcasieu Parish195286,600MaineI-295 Northbound over Route 88Cumberland County195927,320MarylandI-695 over U.S. Route 40Baltimore County1958188,860MassachusettsI-93 Northbound over Route 24 NorthboundNorfolk County1958193,356MichiganI-696 over I-75Oakland County1971209,200MinnesotaI-35W over Cliff Rd.Dakota County195992,000MississippiI-20 over Lynch St.Hinds County196926,000MissouriI-270E over Conway Rd.St. Louis County1964196,655MontanaS Higgins Ave. over Clark Fork River Pedestrian PathsMissoula County196215,552NebraskaU.S. Route 75 over J St.Douglas County197085,640NevadaI-515 over Desert Inn Rd.Clark County1981127,000New HampshireI-89 over South St.Merrimack County195951,032New JerseyNJ Route 495 over Paterson Plank Rd.Hudson County1939159,000New MexicoI-25 over Gibson Blvd.Bernalillo County1961117,053New YorkI-278 over 15th St.Kings County1962190,572North CarolinaI-40 over Walnut CreekWake County1982118,000North DakotaDemers Ave over BNSF Rail RoadGrand Forks County197218,500OhioI-270 Ramp over Ramp I-270 West Bound to state Route 315 SouthboundFranklin County1969143,208OklahomaI-44 Southbound over Oklahoma RiverOklahoma County197562,800OregonMorrison St. over Willamette RiverMultnomah County195855,335PennsylvaniaI-95 over Fraley St.Philadelphia County1967202,857Rhode IslandI-95 over U.S. Route 6 and Woonasquatucket RiverProvidence County1964171,707South CarolinaI-85 over Laurel CreekGreenville County1960119,700South DakotaU.S. Route 12 over Moccasin CreekBrown County195419,426TennesseeI-24 over Mill CreekDavidson County1958167,340TexasI-610 over Houston Ship ChannelHarris County1973171,423UtahI-15 Southbound over state Route 193Davis County1966130,000VermontI-89 Northbound over Connecticut RiverWindsor County196620,734VirginiaI-95 over state Route 608Chesterfield County1958111,000WashingtonSW Spokane St. Bridge over Duwamish WaterwayKing County1983108,179West VirginiaI-64 Ramp B over state Route 25Kanawha County196568,700WisconsinI-43 Freeway over Glendale Ave.Milwaukee County1960132,000WyomingU.S. Route 26 over Flat CreekTeton County196926,260
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