The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will invest more than $5 billion in grants to repair and rebuild 13 major bridges in 16 states.
The 13 bridges, which the administration said are “nationally significant,” will receive grants from the Grand Bridge Project as part of the Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Investment Program, funded by President Biden’s infrastructure law.
“For too long, America has allowed bridges to fall into disrepair, which has made people less safe, disrupted our supply chains, and cost people time and money – but now the Biden-Harris administration is changing that with the largest investment in our bridges since the Eisenhower era. ”, Transport Sec. Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.
State Departments of Transportation will receive funding to repair the 13 bridges, including Oregon for a project to repair bridges connecting Portland, Oregon, to Vancouver, Washington, Massachusetts for the Sagamore Bridge replacement on Cape Cod, and Alabama for the I-10 Replacement of the mobile bridge over the river.
The installment does not include funds for the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which partially collapsed in March, because funding for that project comes through emergency relief, officials said.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania will receive a grant for the replacement of the I-83 bridge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Tennessee will receive a grant to replace the 1-55 bridge over the Mississippi River; and Rhode Island will receive grants for 15 bridges along I-95.
The president’s infrastructure law created the Bridge Investment Program, which invests $40 billion over five years to ensure that bridges are safe and operational and meet current and future needs. More than 10,200 bridges are being rebuilt, repaired or modernized since the infrastructure law was signed in November 2021, according to the administration.
The other donations announced Wednesday will be sent to North Carolina to replace the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge in Wilmington, NC, South Carolina to replace the Lake Marion Bridge on I-95 in Santee, SC, and Oklahoma to replace the Roosevelt Memorial Bridge Replacement Project on US-70.
Additionally, funds are going to Florida to replace Miami’s Venetian Causeway Bridge, West Virginia to replace the historic Market Street Bridge in West Virginia and Ohio, New Mexico to put two bridges on I-25, and Kansas to replace the 18th Street bridge in Kansas City.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
