State report: Oregon’s bridges getting worse
‘Funding does not exist to address all the needs’
Oregon’s iconic bridges, like those crossing the Willamette River in Eugene, are showing their age, and a new state report suggests a lot of work must be done to keep them standing strong.
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) recently released its 2023 Bridge Condition Report and Tunnel Data and it revealed that a number of bridges across the state, including some in Lane County, are in need of maintenance or replacement in the not-so-distant future.
“We’ve known about the vulnerability of Oregon bridges for a number of years but that’s really the catalyst for the conversation in the last 10 years is having that potential event in front of us that really illustrates the problem.”
Tiffany Brown
Lane County emergency manager
ODOT bridge system management
The report states that ODOT manages 2,773 bridges and averages about three bridge replacements per year. With adequate levels of funding, “approximately 27 state highway bridges could be replaced annually which is consistent with a 100year service life,” according to the report. Federal law requires bridge conditions to be assessed at least every two years. Bridges in “poor” or “very poor” condition are assessed by ODOT more frequently.
Bridge conditions are measured by both Oregon’s Bridge Key Performance Measures and National Bridge Performance Measures to assign a condition level to bridges. Conditions range from “very good,” “good,” “fair,” “poor,” and “very poor” to describe structural deficiencies. The report states that 44 bridges in the system are considered to be in “poor” condition due to structural deficiencies and notes that overall bridge conditions are declining due to aging structures.
ODOT is only able to fund the replacement of three bridges per year. According to the report, this slow pace means that “ODOT continues to
lose ground in the effort to manage the system,” as more bridges meet the end of their functional lifespan each year, about 100 years. The agency will need to maintain or replace about 40% of the bridges built between 1951 and 1970. Oregon’s “good” bridge conditions have been trending down since 2016 as bridge structures continue to age.