JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Projects are underway to repair several northeast Florida bridges on which tens of thousands of drivers travel each day – that are considered “structurally deficient.”
The northbound and southbound bridge structures over the Nassau River in northern Duval County, which carry more than 40,000 vehicles a day, are among the more than 450 in Florida that federal authorities consider being in “poor” condition.
It’s slated to undergo repair and refurbishment by the end of 2023.
The state of Florida performs comprehensive inspections every 2 years on each of the more than 12,000 bridges across the state.
The most recent records from the Federal Highway Administration show the state of Florida has 7,871 bridges in “good” condition, 4,414 in “fair” condition, and 455 -- or about 3% -- in “poor” condition.
Meanwhile – the American Road and Transportation Builders Association identifies 459 bridges as being “structurally deficient.”
“That is a categorization that the department uses to simplify what bridges need either additional inspection, or that might need a future rehab, or maybe even a complete rebuild of the bridge or replacement of the bridge,” said Hampton Ray, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation. “Just because a bridge is structurally deficient, does not imply or mean that it is unsafe in any way.”
As part of the massive Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – which President Joe Biden signed into law last November, — more than $36 billion was ear-marked for bridge projects across the country.
More than $263 million of that is being directed to Florida over the next five years specifically to address the state’s bridge repair and replacement needs.