Concerning: 25 Percent of Steel Bridges in the US Could Collapse by 2050

Engineers and scientists say age and extreme weather are taking a toll, and time is running out to replace them.

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Christopher Smith

By: Christopher Smith

Sep 10, 2024 at 1:00pm ET

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Extreme heat and weather are causing damage to older bridges in the US.
A study shows one-quarter of steel bridges could collapse in the next 25 years.
Repairs and new bridge construction now include updated designs to better withstand climate change.

How many bridges do you cross in your daily commute? If you're living in the United States, a quarter of them could collapse in the next 25 years, per a new report from The New York Times. That is, unless repairs to the nation's highway infrastructure are ramped up—quickly.

The startling statistic is the sum of multiple studies conducted in recent years. The focus is largely on steel bridges, many of which were built over 50 years ago and are susceptible to the effects of extreme weather. Hard rains can wash away foundations, but the real culprit is temperature—higher temperatures cause the steel to expand, wreaking havoc on joints and damaging concrete. Considering 2023 was the hottest recorded year since record-keeping began in 1850, the concern is real.

"We have a bridge crisis that is specifically tied to extreme weather events," Paul Chinowsky told The New York Times. He's a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder researching climate change and how it affects infrastructure. He points out that these older bridges were not designed with extreme temperature fluctuations in mind.

"These are not things that would happen under normal climate circumstances. These are not things that we’ve ever seen at this rate."

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In support of these claims, the report looks at Vermont where 100 bridges are said to be damaged by heat and heavy rains over the last two years alone. Reconstruction efforts don't simply replace new parts with old ones, either. The bridges are being redesigned with stronger foundations and more robust materials to better handle the changing weather.

A $110 billion infrastructure law was passed in 2021 to provide funding for road and bridge repair. Beyond that, $7.3 billion was allotted to states for infrastructure updates specifically addressing the effects of climate change. The question now is whether the necessary work can be accomplished before we see widespread failures.