Will USA’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Fix Critical Bridges and Supply Chain Issues

Across the United States, there are at least 46,154 structurally deficient bridges and 231,000 that need repair and preservation work, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The society gave the nation’s bridges a C grade in its 2021 report.  Fixing these bridges will take four decades to finish, according to an American Road and Transportation Builders Association report.

Bridges with structural issues or poor conditions affect everyone, from individuals to those providing emergency and critical services. Delays and traffic jams because of rerouting can be very costly.

For Construction article, “Priority on Bridges in Infrastructure Bill Aims to Improve Safety & Supply Chain Issues,” cites the closure of the I-40 Hernando DeSoto bridge as an example. The article says, “when this bridge closed in May of 2021 due to a cracked beam, over-the-road truckers had to take alternate routes, adding about eight minutes to their drive. Those additional minutes and miles on the detour added a daily cost to the trucking industry of $2.4 million per day.”

The I-40 Hernando DeSoto is only one of the thousands of bridges in America that needs repair, improvements, or strengthening work. Neglecting to do so is costing the economy and ordinary citizens.

The $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) couldn’t come at a better time to upgrade and repair the thousands of bridges around the country and fix the supply chain problems that the nation is currently facing. 

When it comes to the quality of infrastructure, the 2019 World Economic Forum report placed the US in 13^th place trailing behind other developed countries like Japan, France, the UK, and the United Arab Emirates, despite being the largest economy in the world. The report indicates that the government will need to invest in its infrastructure again to retain its global competitiveness.

The For Construction article notes that the IIJA will invest $110 billion in new funds for bridges, roads, and major surface infrastructure projects. It mentions that the bill includes a total of $40 billion of new funding for bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation, which is the single most significant dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system.

To optimize the legislation spending, President Biden’s administration prioritized fixing the ten most economically significant bridges and thousands of other smaller bridges around the country; bridges connecting states, places of work, and transport critical services and supplies.

ASCE estimates that the nation’s bridge repair backlog needs $125 billion. The new federal funding of $40 billion will cover only a portion of the cost, and states and localities will have to chip in to reduce the funding gap.

Plant Engineering article, “Asset management can help manage infrastructure projects,” reports that the US public spending on its roads, bridges, water systems, and others has fallen by 8% from 2003 to 2017. However, these critical infrastructures continue to age and decline, further widening the investment gap. To help the government and private sectors close this infrastructure gap, they have turned to asset management to set priorities.

The article says further:

“Asset management has been around for decades, but new technologies, as well as more holistic cross-sector implementation, are helping cities and states optimize investments. Using credible, centralized data, we can pinpoint maintenance needs for our aging infrastructure and get the biggest bang for our buck.”

“Asset management involves creating a comprehensive infrastructure inventory, which makes prioritizing essential repairs and replacement projects, in addition to planning a long-term capital budget, efficient for policymakers and asset owners. Once the inventory is in place, the data is continuously updated as the condition of assets change.”