DAVENPORT, Iowa — A recent report done by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) said Iowa is the number one state in the country for the number of structurally deficient bridges, and some of those are in the Quad Cities.
The report said the 83-year-old Centennial Bridge, connecting Davenport and Rock Island, is the number one most traveled structurally deficient bridge in the state of Iowa. The Sergeant John F. Baker, Jr. Bridge, (I-280) connecting Davenport and Rock Island, is number two in the Hawkeye state.
According to records from the Illinois Department of Transportation, that trace back to 2004, the Centennial Bridge has held the same title of structurally deficient, and is inspected every year.
ARTBA said a bridge is structurally deficient when either the deck of the superstructure (driving surface), or other support pieces are in poor or worse condition. But, Chief Economist for ARTBA, Dr. Alison Black said it's nothing for drivers to worry about.
"I think people should be aware of the conditions they don't have to worry per se," Dr. Black said. "State DOT's are very good, If there's any concern about safety and the traveling public, they will either post a bridge for load, which means they'll restrict the weight, or maybe truck traffic that crosses the bridge or in extreme cases, they may shut down a lane or the entire bridge."
The issue of structurally deficient bridges is not unique to the Quad Cities.
"What we see with a number of the states that have a very large number of deficient bridges, a lot of those bridges are on local rural networks and road systems," Dr. Black said. "And in many cases, it can really be challenging for local government to raise enough revenue to make those necessary repairs."
The Centennial Bridge just wrapped up it's $1.5 million renovation project this year. And although it's still listed as the number one most structurally deficient bridge most traveled on, the most recent inspection, which was in July 2023, does not account for those repairs because of the timing of the inspection and the timing of this report.
RELATED: Centennial Bridge work resumes May 1
The report also stated nearly 15,000 bridges across Iowa are in need of some repairs and on the Illinois side, significantly less at 4,100.
Thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into Law by President Joe Biden in 2021, Iowa will receive $461.7 million in bridge formula funds for bridge work over the life of the act. Illinois is getting $1.5 billion for the same.