Bridges - Replacement & structural rehabilitation

FY2023

WSDOT bridge replacement and structural rehabilitation needs increase by 37.5% and 380%, respectively

As of June 2023, there were 24 WSDOT-owned bridges with 319,867 square feet of deck area in need of replacement. This represents a 37.5% increase in deck area from the 232,712 square feet reported for June 2022, when there were 14 bridges in need of replacement.

WSDOT owned 36 bridges (with 1,976,233 square feet of deck area) that were in need of structural rehabilitation as of June 2023. This represents a 380% increase in deck area compared to the 412,034 square feet reported in June 2022 when 24 WSDOT-owned bridges required rehabilitation. This increase is due to WSDOT's new bridge preservation strategy, which uses a condition-driven and performance-based bridge management system, as directed by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee. The revised bridge management approach addresses the significant backlog of preservation needs and the limitations to programming and performing the volume of work.

As of June 2023, WSDOT projections indicated there were 216 bridges (with approximately 6.3 million square feet of deck area) that need to be replaced or rehabilitated over the next decade. This was a 0.9% decrease over the 218 that needed replacement or rehabilitation as of June 2022, while the amount of deck area increased 18.9% from 5.3 million square feet.

The longer these bridges are left in need of rehabilitation or replacement, the more likely it is that they will need to be load restricted, load posted, or closed. It is anticipated that, with the current funding level, the percentage of bridges in poor condition based on deck area will fall within the range of 8.5% to 12.1% by the year 2027. This projection suggests that WSDOT will surpass FHWA's threshold of having less than 10% of bridges in poor condition.

Due to years of underfunding maintenance and preservation, WSDOT must spend increasingly more resources on reactive preservation strategies in lieu of proactive strategies. Because it is more cost-effective to proactively preserve bridges in good and fair condition than to reactively address needs on bridges in poor condition, the agency incurs more expensive repairs or reconstruction in the future.

FY2022

WSDOT needs to replace 14 bridges, rehabilitate 24 bridges

As of June 2022, there were 14 WSDOT-owned bridges with 232,712 square feet of deck area in need of replacement. This represents a 33.3% increase in deck area from the 174,589 square feet reported for June 2021, when there were 18 bridges in need of replacement.

WSDOT owned 24 bridges (with 412,034 square feet of deck area) that were in need of structural rehabilitation as of June 2022. This represents a 42.5% decrease in deck area from the 716,752 square feet reported in June 2021, when 22 WSDOT-owned bridges were in need of rehabilitation.

As of June 2022, WSDOT projections indicated there were 218 bridges (with 5.3 million square feet of deck area) that need to be replaced or rehabilitated over the next decade. This was a 175.9% increase over the 79 that needed replacement or rehabilitation as of June 2021, while the amount of deck area increased 754.3% from 616,181 square feet.

This increase is due to WSDOT's new bridge preservation strategy, which uses a condition-driven and performance-based bridge management system. The revised bridge management approach addresses the significant backlog of preservation needs and the limitations to programming and performing the volume of work.

The longer these bridges are left in need of rehabilitation or replacement, the more likely it is that they will need to be load restricted, load posted, or closed.

FY2021

WSDOT needs to replace 18 bridges, rehabilitate 22 bridges

As of June 2021, there were 18 WSDOT-owned bridges with 174,589 square feet of deck area in need of replacement. This represents a 67.1% increase in deck area from the 104,464 square feet reported for June 2020, when there were 12 bridges in need of replacement.

WSDOT owned 22 bridges (with 716,752 square feet of deck area) that were in need of structural rehabilitation as of June 2021. This represents a 32.6% increase in deck area from the 540,608 square feet reported in June 2020, when 18 WSDOT-owned bridges were in need of rehabilitation.

WSDOT had three active contracts underway to replace or rehabilitate bridges as of June 2021, including rehabilitation work on the US 197 Columbia River - Dalles Bridge—which spans 3,345 feet between Oregon and Washington and has 102,700 square feet of deck area. The Dalles is one of 11 border bridges for which WSDOT shares responsibility with Oregon or Idaho. As of June 2021, WSDOT projections indicate there were 79 bridges (with 616,181 square feet of deck area) that will need to be replaced or rehabilitated over the next 10 years. While this is two fewer bridges than the projected 81 that needed replacement or rehabilitation as of June 2020, the amount of deck area increased 51.9% over the past year from 405,578 square feet.

The longer these bridges are left in need of rehabilitation or replacement, the more likely it is that they will need to be load restricted, load posted, or closed.

FY2020

WSDOT needs to replace 12 bridges, rehabilitate 18

As of June 2020, there were 12 WSDOT-owned bridges (with 104,464 square feet of deck area) in need of replacement. This represents an improvement from June 2019, when there were 15 bridges in need of replacement. The number of bridges in need of replacement also decreased from June 2016 to June 2020, going from 16 to 12.

WSDOT also owned an additional 18 bridges (with 540,608 square feet of deck area) that were in need of structural rehabilitation as of June 2020. This was an improvement from June 2019, when there were 19 bridges in need of rehabilitation. However, between June 2016 and June 2020 the number of bridges in need of rehabilitation increased from 16 to 18.

Six of the bridges in need of rehabilitation as of June 2020, and one of those in need of replacement, were located on T-1 freight corridors. Another bridge needing rehabilitation was among the 11 border bridges for which WSDOT shares responsibility with Oregon or Idaho.

As of June 2020, WSDOT also had six active contracts underway to replace or rehabilitate bridges, including the agency's oldest bridge—the SR 290 Trent Avenue bridge in Spokane—which was constructed in 1910.

WSDOT projections indicate an additional 81 bridges (with 405,578 square feet of deck area) will need to be replaced or rehabilitated over the next 10 years. The longer these bridges are left in need of rehabilitation or replacement, the more likely it is that they will need to be load restricted, load posted, or closed.

FY2019

Fifteen WSDOT bridges need replacement, 19 need rehabilitation

WSDOT had 15 bridges that were in need of replacement and 19 that needed rehabilitation as of June 2019. The agency had three active contracts underway to replace or rehabilitate additional bridges (including the SR 162 Spiketon Creek Bridge, which was being replaced with a temporary structure). The longer bridges are left in need of rehabilitation or replacement, the more likely it is that they will need to be load restricted, load posted, or closed.

Spiketon Creek Bridge

WSDOT closed the SR 162 Spiketon Creek Bridge in Pierce County in 2018 because its condition had deteriorated to a point where the bridge was unsafe to use. The Spiketon Creek Bridge, which was 82 years old when it was closed, is currently WSDOT's only closed bridge. However, such closures may become more common as more bridges become past due for replacement.

As of August 2019, the SR 162 Spiketon Creek Bridge was under contract to be replaced with a temporary bridge.