Biden administration to invest $5 billion to fix 13 aging bridges

More than a dozen aging bridges across 16 states will be repaired using $5 billion in federal grants.

“These bridges affect whole regions and ultimately affect the whole U.S. economy,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Tuesday during a call with reporters. The spans are “some of the most economically significant bridges in America,” he added. “Their condition means they need urgent investment.”

The 13 grants are from the Large Bridge Program, part of the Infrastructure and Investment Job Act’s competitive Bridge Investment Program, which totals $40 billion program over five years. The $5 billion allocation covers part of 2023, 2024 and some future appropriation. The Biden administration plans to announce another $525 million in grants later this year.

The awards do not include the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed earlier this year, as repairs to that structure are expected to be covered by emergency relief funds.

Buttigieg said the country now has 3,000 fewer bridges considered in poor condition than the 45,000 when Biden took office.

The announcement kicks off what will be the Biden administration’s third “Investing in America” tour, with cabinet members fanning across the country to tout infrastructure investments over the last three and a half years.

Buttigieg will be in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Wednesday to announce a $500 million investment in the I-83 South Bridge Replacement Project, which will replace a bridge originally built in 1960. The span links the capital area with Baltimore.

Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt will travel to North Carolina to announce a $242 million for the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge in Wilmington, North Carolina. He will also go to Tennessee to tout $394 million for the America’s River Crossing project in Memphis and West Memphis, Arkansas, that will replace a 75-year-old span over the I-55 at the Mississippi River.

The funding is part of the Biden administration’s goal to “change the trajectory of the narrative of underinvestment in infrastructure in this country,” Bhatt said. The FHWA received 33 applications totaling $10 billion in funding this round, he said.

The largest grant, $1.49 billion, will go to the Oregon Department of Transportation to replace a pair of aging vertical lift bridges over the Columbia River at Interstate 5 that connect Portland and Vancouver, Washington. The two replacement spans will be seismically resilient and include options for driving, walking, bilking and transit. The project won a $600 million Mega grant earlier this year.

“In February, I toured the I-5 bridge between Oregon and Washington and you could feel it vibrate,” said Buttigieg, saying the span was originally designed “for the use of horses alongside cars” and has the worst trucking bottleneck in the region.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation will receive $993 million to replace the Sagamore Bridge in Cape Cod. The project was also awarded a $372 million Mega grant earlier this year.