Iowa has more “structurally deficient” bridges than any other state in the country, according to a report released by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. Scott Neubauer, bridge maintenance and inspection engineer with the Iowa Department of Transportation, is quick to point out that a majority of the Iowa bridges in question are on low-volume, rural roads…
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Iowa has over 24,000 bridges and the reports claims 5,025 are structurally deficient. Neubauer says that designation, created by the Federal Highway Administration, does not necessarily mean the bridge is unsafe.
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While Iowa has the highest NUMBER of deficient bridges, Rhode Island has the largest PERCENTAGE of bridges labeled structurally deficient. The report shows 23.2-percent of the bridges in Rhode Island are deficient, Pennsylvania is next at 21-percent, and Iowa is third on the list at 20.7-percent.