Nearly 56,000 bridges in the U.S. are “structurally deficient,” a new report finds.
The bridges are traversed an estimated 185 million times daily. Among the highest- profile “deficient” bridges are New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge and the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C.
“Structurally deficient” doesn’t necessarily mean the bridges are unsafe, but that they need attention. To earn the rating, one or more key bridge elements ― such as the deck, superstructure or substructure — must be in “poor” or worse condition, according to the report.
