BRIDGES

摘要

The cost to repair or modernize the country's deteriorating bridges is $140 billion-assuming all the bridges were fixed immediately, according to new data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). It's a staggering number, especially consid-, firing that the current annual combined spending on bridge repair and rehabilitation is about $10.5 billion. America's bridges are safe, but states are faced with skyrocketing costs and funding shortages that prevent them from the kind of on-going preventive maintenance, repair and replacement needed to keep bridges in service. In just the past five years, the cost of steel, asphalt, concrete and earthwork has risen by at least 50%. If these trends continue the concern is that more bridges may be forced to close temporarily, due to safety concerns. in one recent report, the KY Transportation Cabinet noted that the $87 million it has to inspect and repair bridges would cover repairs to only about 100 bridges, far short of the 2,800 structurally deficient bridges in need of repair across the state.