New Study: Nation’s bridges at risk if congress allows bigger trucks

States hit hardest: Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.

A new study released by the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks found that congressional proposals to allow heavier tractor trailers on highways would cause major damage to the nation’s local bridges if enacted into law. Updating an earlier 2023 report, the findings show the likely impact of proposed legislation to raise truck weights from the current limit of 80,000 pounds to 91,000 pounds or more by evaluating local bridges off the National Highway System. Conducted in coordination with county infrastructure experts from around the country, the study uses the most current available data about the physical condition of the nation’s bridges and bridge replacement costs. It incorporates a methodology developed with county officials, including the engineers who have designed, maintained and inspected these bridges. The study demonstrates that:

• Depending on the proposed heavier truck configurations, between 65,157 and 82,457 local bridges nationwide would be at risk if Congress allowed heavier trucks on the nation’s highways.

• The cost of replacing these local bridges ranges from an estimated $70.5 billion to $98.5 billion, depending on the gross vehicle weight. This represents an increase from the 2023 finding of an estimated $54.6 billion to $78.4 billion, largely due to the increased cost of bridge replacement.

• These at-risk bridges represent a sizable portion of the nation’s bridge infrastructure, located on local roads and highways that are critical for everyday transportation and commerce.

Bridges across all 50 states would suffer if any of the congressional proposals became law, and the full list of how each state would be impacted is available here.

The top states with the highest potential replacement costs include Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and Washington. “The CABT report should serve to put the brakes on any of the proposals under consideration in Congress to allow bigger trucks,” said Kevan Stone, Executive Director of the National Association of County Engineers. “The cost to counties and to taxpayers would simply be too great.”

Since the publication of the original study 2023, local officials have updated inspection data for bridges across the country as they have conducted more recent inspections. As a result, the new report offers a more precise snapshot of the current condition and load-bearing capacity of the 423,943 local bridges examined.