TEXAS, NEVADA HAVE LOWEST PERCENTAGE OF DEFICIENT BRIDGES

ARTBA 2017 Map of Deficient Bridges, by Percent (Source: http://www.artba.org/deficient-bridge-report-home/)

The American Roads and Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) 2017 Bridge Report report ranks Texas as having only 1.7 percent of its 53,488 bridges as structurally deficient; only Nevada had a lower percentage at 1.6%. 

Though Texas was nearly lowest in percentage, the sheer number of bridges in the state placed it in the middle of the pack (24th) when ranked by total number of deficient bridges (1,008).  A structurally deficient bridge is where "one or more of the key bridge elements, such as the deck, superstructure or substructure, is considered to be in 'poor' or worse condition."  According to the report, the five most heavily crossed structurally deficient bridges in Texas are:

• IH 45 SB over Rayford/Sawdust, Montgomery County, 120,840 daily crossings
• IH 45 NB over White Oak Bayou, Harris County 106,670 daily crossings
• IH 610 S WB over Holmes Rd UPRR & Theresa, Harris County, 80,210 daily crossings
• IH 610S EB over Holmes Rd UPRR Theresa, Harris County, 80,210 daily crossings
• S Denton Dr over IH 35E, Denton County, 75,357 daily crossings

An additional 20 of the most heavily trafficked bridges are included in the Texas summary.

ARTBA's bridge summary for Texas also showed that 17% of Texas' bridges (8,997) are functionally obsolete, i.e. "the bridge does not meet design standards in line with current practice."  

The number of structurally deficient bridges decreased by 10.7% compared to the previous year, indicating that Texas is making progress; however, the the nubers also show that much work is still needed, an estimated $8 billion (by TxDOT) in bridge repairs. 

The online report can be viewed at the ARTBA's 2017 Bridge Report website, including state rankings, and individual state reports.  This analysis was based on the Federal Highway Adminstration's National Bridge Inventory.