US grants $300 million for 9 bridge repair and replacement projects

The Castletonon-Hudson Bridge over the Hudson river (Image: Jag9889, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has granted nearly $300 million in funding for nine bridge repair and replacement projects.

The grants come under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Bridge Investment Program.

They will fund small- and medium-sized bridge projects across eight states and the District of Columbia.

The projects to share the funding are:

• California: City of San Diego – Palm Avenue/Interstate 805 Bridge – $24 million
  Bridge rehabilitation and preservation for the 50-year-old Palm Avenue overcrossing bridge in San Diego. An estimated 38,160 vehicles per day cross this bridge every day and this project aims to reduce traffic delays and increase freight movement, while reducing long-term maintenance costs.
• Michigan: Michigan Department of Transportation – Lafayette Bascule Bridge - $73 million
  Replacement of the 85-year-old, bascule-style Lafayette Avenue Bridge over the Saginaw River with a new bascule bridge. An estimated 16,000 vehicles cross this bridge every day and project sponsors project tens of millions of dollars in costs savings associated with shorter travel time and safety benefits.

• New York: New York State Thruway Authority – Castleton-on-Hudson Bridge – $21 million (rural)
  Rehabilitation of the Berkshire Spur of the New York Thruway, which connects I-87 in Albany County to the New York State/Massachusetts State line. An estimated 17,000 vehicles cross this bridge every day and project sponsors estimate a reduction of $13.5 million in maintenance costs and a reduction of $8.8 million in travel time costs.
• Oklahoma: Circuit Engineering District 8 – Improving Rural Bridges in Northwest Oklahoma – $11.5 million (rural)
  Replacement of seven bridges. Nearly 3,000 vehicles cross these bridges every day and the project aims to improve reliability and capacity of the bridges for the region’s farmers, ranchers, and energy workers.
• Oregon: Portland Bureau of Transportation – Burgard Bridge – $13.9 million
  Replacement of the existing 93-year-old viaduct over the Union Pacific Railroad in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland. Over 8,000 vehicles cross this bridge every day.
• South Carolina: South Carolina Department of Transportation - South Carolina’s Rural Bridges – $51.2 million (rural)
  Replacement of six bridges that range from 68 to 101 years old. An estimated 13,000 vehicles cross these bridges every day. Without the project, the project sponsors say these bridges will all eventually close to traffic, causing vehicles to take long detours that would result in increased costs.
• Texas: Texas Department of Transportation – US-59 San Antonio River Bridge – $14 million (Rural)
  Replacement of the U.S. Highway 59 bridge over the San Antonio River, which is located fewer than 70 miles from three ports (the Port of Corpus Christi, Calhoun Port Authority, and Port of Victoria) and within 150 miles of Port Laredo, the country’s largest inland port along the U.S./Mexico border. Over 4,200 vehicles cross this bridge every day and project sponsors estimate that without this investment, the bridge would need to be closed for at least 9 months, resulting in traffic taking a nearly 50-mile detour.
• Washington, D.C.: District Department of Transportation – Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge – $72 million
  Rehabilitation of the northbound I-395 bridge, also known as the Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge. This is a four-lane, nearly half-mile bridge that carries people and goods from Arlington, Virginia, over the Potomac River to Washington, D.C. Over 88,000 vehicles cross this bridge every day.
• Wisconsin: City of Madison – John Nolen Drive Bridges – $15.1million
  Replacement of six off-system bridges along the John Nolen Drive Causeway, which is a major artery that travels across Lake Monona and into downtown Madison. 45,000 vehicles drive across these bridges every day.

The Bridge Investment Program is a competitive grant program that will invest $12.5 billion over 5 years to rebuild, repair, and replace small, medium, and large bridges.

It has already invested $2.4 billion in Fiscal Year 2022, and complements the $27.5-billion Bridge Formula Program.

The latest announcement follows earlier announcements under the Bridge Investment Program umbrella:

• In October 2022, FHWA announced $20 million in bridge-planning grants for 24 projects in 24 states.
• In January 2023, FHWA announced $2.1 billion in large-bridge project grants to make critical improvements to four nationally significant bridges.