Bridges
Highlights
FY2023
- The percentage of deck area on WSDOT-owned bridges in poor condition decreased from 7.4% in June 2022 to 7.2% in June 2023
- WSDOT owned 315 bridges 80 years old or older as of June 2023, an increase of one bridge from 314 in June 2022
- There were 133 WSDOT-owned bridges that were load posted or load restricted in June 2023, a decrease of two bridges from 135 in June 2022
FY2022
- The percentage of deck area on WSDOT-owned bridges in poor condition increased from 6.7% in June 2021 to 7.4% in June 2022
- WSDOT owned 314 bridges 80 years old or older as of June 2022, an increase of 12 bridges (4.0%) from 302 in June 2021
- There were 135 WSDOT-owned bridges that were load posted or load restricted in June 2022, up from 131 in June 2021
FY2021
- The percentage of deck area on WSDOT-owned bridges in poor condition increased to 6.7% in June 2021 from 6.2% in June 2020
- WSDOT owned 302 bridges 80 years old or older as of June 2021, an increase of 10 bridges (3.4%) from 292 in June 2020
- There were 131 WSDOT-owned bridges that were load posted or load restricted in June 2021, up from 130 in June 2020
FY2020
- WSDOT owned 292 bridges over 80 years old as of June 2020, an increase of 12 bridges (4.3%) from 280 in June 2019
- There were 130 state-owned bridges and 551 locally owned bridges that were load posted or load restricted in June 2020, up from 111 and 419 in June 2019
- As of June 2019, WSDOT had 116 steel bridges in need of repainting; six were under contract to be painted during the 2019-2021 biennium
FY2019
- WSDOT owned 280 bridges over 80 years old as of June 2019, an increase of 6% from 266 in June 2018
- Washington met the federal MAP-21 target of having less than 10% of NHS bridges by deck area in poor condition as of June 2019, but expects to miss this target by 2028
Bridges background
Bridges
There are roughly 7,600 bridges on the state, city and county road systems that are over 20 feet in length and carry vehicular traffic.
A bridge is expected to have a service life of 75 years based on current standards. The average age of state-owned vehicular bridges is 51 years.
The interstate program in the 1950s and 1960s included a significant number of new bridges. There are approximately 315 WSDOT bridges that are 80 years old or older.
Bridge Asset Management
WSDOT's Bridge Preservation Program includes a combination of cost-effective actions, such as bridge repairs and rehabilitation, steel bridge painting, deck rehabilitation, and bridge replacement. The objective of Bridge Asset Management is to provide decision support tools that assist in the formation of an optimal program for repair, preservation, rehabilitation, and replacement for the network of bridges. This program aims to maximize service life while minimizing the overall life cycle cost.
Each biennium, WSDOT's bridge office and other staff members review the condition of bridges and develop a list of needs for a 10-year period. The needs are prioritized in order to select the best projects with the available funding.