Politics & Government

New Hampshire Has 270 Structurally Deficient Bridges: Report

The state has identified 2,433 bridges are in need of repairs and estimated it would cost $7.5 billion to fix them.

BEDFORD, MA — New Hampshire drivers cross bridges nearly 17 million times a day. If you're one of those 17 million trips, you may not want to hear about this new report.

More than 10 percent of bridges in New Hampshire are considered "structurally deficient," according to an analysis of federal data conducted by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. That amounts to 270 structurally deficient bridges, 15 of which are on the Interstate Highway System.

New Hampshire ranked 13th in the country in highest percentage of bridges deemed to be in poor condition and 40th highest based on the actual number of such bridges.

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The state has identified 2,433 bridges are in need of repairs and estimated it would cost $7.5 billion to fix them.

Over the past five years, bridge investment has accounted for 28.1 percent of highway and bridge contract awards in New Hampshire, compared to a national average of 28.9 percent. Over the past 10 years, 232 new bridges have been constructed here, while 164 have undergone major reconstruction.

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The report does not identify bridges by name, but does so by location. Here are the 10 most heavily traveled structurally deficient bridges in New Hampshire:

CountyYear BuiltDaily TripsLocation
Merrimack195942,600I-89 over South Street
Merrimack195841,300I-393, US 4, US202 over I-93
Merrimack198041,300I-393, US 4, US202 over Fort Eddy Rd
Hillsborough196041,000I-293 SB, NH101 EB over Merrimack River,Par
Merrimack195836,488I-93,Fee Tpk SB over Hall Street
Merrimack195832,900US202 over NHRR,Constitution Av.
Rockingham196232,000NH 102 over I-93
Hillsborough192325,000US 3, NH 3A over I-293, NH 3A,PAR,Merr R
Hillsborough195622,000I-293, NH 3A, Tpk N over Black Brook
Hillsborough195622,000I-293, NH 3A, Tpk S over Black Brook



New Hampshire was one of 21 states where at least 9 percent of bridges were rated structurally deficient, the analysis found. If placed end-to-end, the number of such bridges could stretch more than 1,200 miles — nearly the distance between Miami and New York City.

On average, those bridges were built 67 years ago, when Harry Truman was president. Non-deficient bridges were 27 years younger on average.

Iowa, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and New York have the most structurally deficient bridges, the analysis found.

The Federal Highway Administration told NBC News in a statement, that the report "underscores the need for investment in our nation's infrastructure."

"It also highlights the importance of streamlining the permitting process, so that the projects that are funded can move forward without undue delay," the agency said.

The road and transportation group that conducted the analysis is a non-partisan federation that aims to "aggressively grow and protect transportation infrastructure investment" in order to meet demand for safe and efficient travel.

Alison Premo Black, chief economist for the group, said in a release that it would take 37 years to remedy every bridge at the current pace of repair or replacement. An infrastructure package aimed at modernizing the interstate system would benefit the economy both in the short and long term, she said.

Traffic bottlenecks cost the trucking industry alone more than $60 billion a year in lost productivity and fuel. That "increases the cost of everything we make, buy or export," she said.

President Donald Trump is expected to talk about the nation's crumbling infrastructure during the State of the Union on Tuesday night. During his campaign, he pledged to spend $1 trillion to rebuild America's roads and bridges.

Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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