Webster defines an infrastructure as the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., bridges, buildings, roads, and power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. Bridges are a key infrastructure particularly in the worlds’ cities and towns where either waterways or land barriers prevent transport to
“the other side”. Many of our bridges were put into place over fifty years ago, and are simply overwhelmed or worn out with the average age of the nation’s 607,380 bridges currently 42 years old. A recent analysis of America’s infrastructure gave an overall grade of D+ across 16 categories, up just slightly from the D given in an earlier 2009 review. This grade is clearly unacceptable when for the most part the problem is hidden and safety is at risk. Most of us do not notice infrastructure until it stops working. An example of this is when a bridge is closed causing us to be late for work or worse when a bridge totally collapses. This was witnessed on Aug 1, 2007 when the I-
35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed and fell into the Mississippi River killing 13 people, injuring 145 others, and costing taxpayers a whopping $234 million in repairs. The bridge carried an estimated 140,000 vehicles per day, and the National Transportation
Safety Board cited a design flaw as the likely main cause of the collapse. A gusset plate holding the bridge together failed, bringing the bridge down and changing the lives of many Minnesotans forever. In the ensuing court case, the engineer’s expert witness firm cited the dynamic loading caused by the sudden release of frozen expansion roller bearings forced by the combination of heavy construction loading (stockpiled aggregate), summer heat and rush-hour traffic. MinDOT was well-aware of these frozen

bearings and simply chose to not fix them prior to allowing the construction loading on the bridge.
As a Civil Engineering (CE) student at Penn State University (PSU) and a resident of
Pittsburgh (aka “The City of Bridges”), I am particularly interested in the structural integrity of bridges leading to bridge safety. My current academic program at PSU has provided me with a diverse set of CE specialties to select from and I have decided to specialize in structures. Sadly, one in nine of the nation’s bridges are rated as structurally deficient (defined as in need of more frequent monitoring and critical nearterm maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement). U.S. metropolitan areas have 18,239 deficient bridges which by comparison exceeds the approximately 14,000 McDonald's restaurants across the entire United States.
Pennsylvania also tops the state list with 24.4% of their bridges rated as structurally deficient. Among the 102 most-populated U.S. metropolitan areas, Las Vegas Nevada has the lowest percentage of deficient bridges at 0.2% while Pittsburgh, Pa. has the greatest percentage of bridges needing repair at 30.4%. In Pittsburgh alone, five million people travel across bridges that need to be replaced or are in need of major repairs.
I believe it is the responsibility of every CE to raise the awareness in our nations’ capitol that assuring the safety of our bridges is of greater importance than several other government-funded programs. More than 30% of existing bridges have exceeded their
50-year design life, meaning that maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation programs will require significant investment in the upcoming years. Today there exists a huge deficit
($8 billion per year) in money spent on bridge repair to meet a 2028 goal for repairing
America’s large bridge backlog. Unfortunately, preserving aging bridges while replacing deficient bridges is a significant challenge for cash-strapped state and local governments to manage hence requiring greater federal intervention.

But politicians in Washington do not have the political courage to speak their mind on the subject of permanent bridge repair. Instead some bridges have structures built beneath them to catch any falling concrete so it doesn’t hit traffic underneath it. Three hundred bridges become structurally deficient each year in the state of Pennsylvania.
The United States, which used to have the finest infrastructure in the world is now ranked 16 th behind Iceland, Portugal, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. Washington agrees that a silver lining exists in repairing the countries’ bridges since every one billion dollars spent on infrastructure would create 35,000 well-paying jobs. There is no shortage of ideas from both Democrats and Republicans who have suggested everything from raising the gas tax to funding infrastructure through corporate tax reform. In
Pittsburgh, everyone agrees that infrastructure changes must be made, however the question remains, ‘where is the money coming from’?
So how does America reclaim its’ top infrastructure ranking worldwide? It starts with improving the integrity of our bridges. A starting point is to elevate Federal cooperation in order to provide the necessary funding for infrastructure improvements. How could that possibly succeed in our bipartisan culture where two political parties only adhere to their individual interests often without compromise? The only solution I see is for our
US Government to work as our military would in the event of a national threat. In that scenario, would the two parties continue bickering countless hours wasting taxpayer money to elevate selfish or party-specific interests? Or would both sides put their differences aside to benefit the common good of the country? As Americans working towards a common goal, I am certain it would be the latter. Currently, too many selfserving federally funded programs exist that meet the desires and agendas of one party or the other.

Infrastructure funding intended to improve the integrity of America’s bridges could and should begin at the federal level rather than be the sole responsibility of local and state jurisdictions. That is because the funding needed to improve the integrity of bridges is a function of the number of bridges in each state. Some states have significantly more bridges than other states which is not the fault of those states. Those states would simply require more funding than others simply due to that states’ individual topography. On the contrary, other states relatively level or without waterways would need very little funding for bridge repair.
My career goal after graduating from Penn State University is to return to my hometown of Pittsburgh and begin a career in Civil Engineering. Specializing in bridges certainly gives me that opportunity to focus my career to the City of Bridges. Funding to improve the integrity and eventual safety of our bridges must continue at a greater rate in order to avoid unnecessary future tragedy. Revisiting priorities and enacting congressional legislation to increase infrastructure funding would certainly help.
Perhaps lobbying in the nations’ capital to reset priorities could help as well.
Americans need to feel secure that the bridges they cross each and every day are safe.
Some priorities are more important than others. As a young civil engineer I am certainly interested in doing my part. Restoring the bridges in an effort to improve America’s infrastructure should be given top priority.