Report: Most Ohio bridges are in "good" shape

Although the bridge collapse in Baltimore last month was due to a series of unlikely accidents rather than crumbling infrastructure, the incident has renewed focus on the vulnerability of bridges across the U.S.

The big picture: The U.S. Department of Transportation considers 6.8% of the over 600,000 bridges it tracks and rates to be in "poor" condition.

• That doesn't sound too bad on a percentage basis, but it's over 40,000 bridges in total.
• The trend nationwide is nonetheless headed in a positive direction, with the percentage of bridges in poor condition cut in half since 2000.

Breaking it down: West Virginia, Iowa, South Dakota and Rhode Island fare the worst, with 15% to 20% of bridges in each state rated "poor."

• Georgia has the highest percentage of bridges in "good" condition (75%), while in Arizona, Nevada and Texas, just 1% of bridges are rated "poor."

Zoom in: 61% of Ohio's 26,960 bridges are "good" and just 5% "poor," per the 2023 ratings.

• That amounts to 1,251 bridges statewide considered to be structurally deficient , most of which are located in rural communities.
• A few dozen bad bridges are along interstates and highways that see a combined 1.4 million vehicle crossings per day.

What's happening: One of those is the I-70 bridge over the Scioto River, which dates back to 1975 and has over 61,000 daily crossings.

• Its replacement is part of the ongoing I-70/I-71 reconstruction project .

What to watch: The federal bipartisan infrastructure law sets aside $40 billion to further repair and rebuild the nation's bridges, but that will take years to go from ink to concrete.