Rep. Courtney Votes to Bring New Federal Funds to Connecticut's, Nation's Unsafe Bridges

Press Release

Today Congressman Joe Courtney voted in favor of H.R. 3999, The National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act, which would make critical investments to our nation's outdated and aging transportation infrastructure. The bill passed the House by a vote of 367 to 55.

"Connecticut's transportation infrastructure, including our bridges, is among some of the oldest in the nation and we must take action to address this critical problem," stated Courtney. "This important bill authorizes new federal funding and inspection standards for our bridges, while making those most in need and unsafe a national priority. With eight structurally deficient bridges right here in eastern Connecticut, this bill could not have come too soon."

H.R. 3999 takes several critical steps to address the challenge of investing in our nation's aging bridges. The bill authorizes $1 billion in fiscal year 2009 funding, in addition to what states already receiving in federal transportation funding, to provide states with additional resources to repair and replace "structurally deficient" bridges that are part of the National Highway System (NHS). These funds would be provided through a formula of risk-based prioritization based on the age of the bridge and other factors. The bill also strengthens bridge inspection standards by requiring an immediate update of national bridge inspection standards and annual inspections of bridges in the worst condition.

The issue of bridge safety is of particular concern for Connecticut. In 1983, a section of the I-95 Bridge over the Mianus River in Greenwich collapsed, killing three people and seriously injuring three more. In response, then-Gov. William O'Neill and the legislature created a Special Transportation Fund to support a 10-year, $5.6 billion bridge reconstruction plan.

Today, the average age of bridges in Connecticut is 40 years and an estimated forty-six percent of the state's bridges were built prior to 1960. According to the Federal Department of Transportation, 391 of Connecticut's 1,571 National Highway System (NHS) bridges are now deficient (as of Dec. 2007). Of that total, 66 are "structurally deficient" and 325 are "functionally obsolete" - meaning that they are too old to meet today's standards.

In the Second Congressional District of Connecticut, there are eight identified structurally deficient NHS bridges.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (`DOT'), 6,175 of the nation's 116,172 NHS bridges are structurally deficient. NHS bridges, which were primarily constructed in the 1960s, pose a special challenge because a large percentage of these bridges are in the same period of their service lives (e.g., 44 percent of these bridges were constructed in the 1960s). Concrete and steel superstructures on the Interstate Highway System are, on average, 35 to 40 years old. While the NHS makes up only 4.1 percent of total U.S. mileage, it carries 45 percent of vehicle miles traveled. NHS bridges carry more than 70 percent of all traffic on bridges.

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