Baltimore bridge collapse underscores aging infrastructure; here's a look at PA bridges

Chris Ullery, Bucks County Courier Times
Updated ·2 min read

The collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday morning has renewed interest in bridge conditions and aging infrastructure across America and Pennsylvania.

While the collision from a massive cargo ship against the bridge's support beam is an unpredictable catastrophe, bridge experts say the structure's quick collapse is like a glimpse into a long-standing infrastructure problem.

The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lies on top of the container ship Dali in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 27, 2024. Authorities in Baltimore were set to focus on expanding recovery efforts on March 27 after the cargo ship slammed into the bridge, causing it to collapse and leaving six people presumed dead. All six were members of a construction crew repairing potholes on the bridge when the structure fell into the Patapsco River at around 1:30 am (0530 GMT) on March 26. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Rick Geddes, an infrastructure policy expert and director of Cornell University’s infrastructure policy program told USA Today that "this disaster reveals how exposed America’s critical infrastructure is to sudden and devastating accidents as well as intentional destruction.”

Pennsylvania's deficient bridges

Roughly 45,000 bridges across the country were rated in poor condition by the Federal Highway Administration in 2022, according to a USA Today analysis of the FHA's National Bridge Inventory.

Iowa had more poor-rated bridges than any state in the nation (4,571), but Pennsylvania was second highest with 3,353 poor bridges.

According to current Pennsylvania Department of Transportation data, about 3,022 bridges in Pennsylvania have a poor rating by the federal highway's standards.

PennDOT estimates that about 15.7%, or 3,674 bridges in the state are at least in need of some kind of repair and about 13%, or 3,046 bridges are considered structurally deficient.

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About 144 bridges in Bucks County were estimated to be deficient in 2022, placing it the second behind Allegheny for the county badly in need of repairs.

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Bucks County is now down to 114 deficient bridges, placing it third behind Luzerne County (115 bridges) and Allegheny County (120 bridges).

Chris Ullery is the Philadelphia Hub Data Reporter for the USA Today Network. Reach him at cullery@couriertimes.com or find him on Twitter at @ulleryatinell.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse puts infrastructure under spotlight