The week of June 10-14, 2024 was a big one for bridge infrastructure in the United States.
“What happened that early morning of March 26th was horrific. What happened next was inspiring. And it is what happened next and every day since that day that has allowed us to come together and mark and celebrate the fact that, as of today, as of this week, the channel is open, the ships are moving, the terminals are operating, and this great American port is full steam ahead. President Biden made clear from that first day in those early hours that the Federal government would do everything that we could to support the city, the county, the state, to get the Port of Baltimore back open and to get that bridge rebuilt.”
– U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg at the opening of the Port of Baltimore on June 10, 2024.
On June 10th, The Port of Baltimore celebrated its reopening to deep water traffic just 11 weeks after the Dansk cargo ship Dali collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge into the Patapsco River and closed the port. Prior to the port’s reopening, most of the 8,636 ft. bridge was demolished and tens of thousands of pounds of steel were dismantled and removed to make way for new construction. It is expected to be rebuilt by 2028.
Five days later, on June 14th, construction workers from Canada and the U.S. shook hands in the middle of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Two iron workers posed for an iconic photo just after they had connected the center of the bridge deck over the Detroit River, bringing the multinational project that “dwarfs theAmbassador Bridge,” one step closer to its anticipated 2025 completion – seven years after it began in 2018.
These are just two high-profile stories among hundreds that highlight the urgent need for investment in – and the risks to – the U.S.’s aging bridge infrastructure.
Is the Francis Scott Key Bridge the “Canary in the Coal Mine?”
Much like the collapse of the I-95 overpass bridge in Philadelphia in June of 2023, the public tuned in to watch the dramatic rescue, demolition, and reclamation efforts surrounding “The Key Bridge” in Maryland. Media the world over has covered every unfolding detail.
What gets lost in the 24/7 media shuffle are the infrastructure, security, and safety issues this collapse highlights for America’s complex and aging bridges.
Waterway bridge collapses happen throughout the U.S., but few of those collapses are brought about by collisions. While the Maryland bridge collapse is the most covered in recent history, The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure listed 35 major bridge collapses caused by waterway collisions from 1960 to 2015 in their 2018 report. Of those 35 “major” collapses, 18 occurred in the U.S. and were responsible for the loss of 95 lives and at least 87 injuries. The Key Bridge collapse is responsible for six additional fatalities, bringing the total deaths from these collisions to 111.
While high-profile waterway bridge collision collapses are certainly troubling, and provide dramatic reminders of the fragility and security issues plaguing some sectors of U.S. infrastructure, reality is far more dangerous. A 2020 report issued by the Federal Highway Administration shows that more than 15,000 “fixed object bridge collisions” occur annually. In these collisions, which include bridges over waterways, roadways, and railways, vehicles strike embedded concrete supports, steel suspension supports, and structures, causing damages.
According to research conducted at Utah State University in 2014, approximately 128 bridges collapse per year in the U.S. Some of those collapses are collision-based, but most are from aging, and the corrosion, shifting, and wear and tear carrying thousands of cars cause.
When you consider that the Unites States has some 617,000 thousand bridges of various types, spanning roadways, railways, and waterways, one could consider 128 collapses – just 0.21% – miraculous. However, that metric fails to take into account the following information:
According to research compiled by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2021, it will take until 2071 to complete the backlog of necessary bridge repairs. But because the infrastructure will continue to age, by the time 2071 arrives, “the additional deterioration over the next 50 years will become overwhelming.”
That is why the ASCE grades America’s bridge infrastructure a grade of C in their quadrennial report card.
Bridge Failures Highlight National Security Concerns
The need for structurally secure bridges is about far more than the safe passage of those who travel them. They are a major focus for national security concerns.
The Federal Highway Administration provides guidance for engineers, architects, virtual design consultants and others who plan and implement bridge design-build projects to make certain newly constructed bridges are considered “secured facilities” that are protected against fire, explosions, or sabotage.
Part of the mandate of The Department of Homeland Security is protecting “critical infrastructure” including highways, connecting bridges and tunnels, railways, utilities and buildings that are necessary for daily life.
The Rand Corporation, a long-time government contractor in the security world, provided commentary calling the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge a “National Security Problem,” and cautioned that it provided the nation’s enemies an important piece of intelligence – “how vulnerable an American port could be to an attack by something as common as a cargo ship going nine miles per hour.”
Its authors, Scot Savitz and Michelle D. Ziegler cited the 2021 grounding of the Ever Given in the Suez Canal, the Key Bridge collision, and other international incidents to bring attention to the tactic of “blockships… the use of vessels that are intentionally sunk in narrow waterways to create obstacles, impeding the movement of enemy ships.”
And in 2021, the Center for Strategic & International Studies said definitively that “The United States Broken Infrastructure Is A National Security Threat.” They called fixing the nation’s infrastructure “a national security imperative, citing its strategic importance due to climate change, the rise of foreign powers, and technological innovations.
Creative Funding: The Infrastructure Innovation You Didn’t Know You Needed
When looking for innovation in any sector, it is easy to get caught up in technological advancements or engineering breakthroughs, and there are certainly plenty technical innovations being unveiled. However, when addressing a nationwide infrastructure crisis like U.S. bridges, the most effective innovations may be in the areas of policy and finance.
A lot of reporting has focused on the massive investment funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, of which $40 billion has been earmarked for bridges as part of the Bridge Investment Program. Focusing merely on funding at the federal level, however, misses the rise in public-private partnerships, known as P3s, and how various states have employed them in conjunction with federal funds.
National infrastructure reporting also often overlooks ongoing state infrastructure initiatives, many of which were enacted prior to any increase in federal investment, to address failing bridges across the country.
Lessons From Pennsylvania’s Rapid Bridge Replacement Model
One of the most well-known accelerated bridge construction (ABC) initiatives in recent years is the Pennsylvania Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. Officially begun in 2013 after the passage of Pennsylvania Act 89, also known as the Transportation Bill, this ambitious PennDOT project aimed to replace 588 of the state’s 6,034 structurally deficient bridges in a “first of its kind” public-private partnership (P3) funded initiative to bundle the replacement of hundreds of bridges throughout the state in a coordinated fashion. By focusing on bridges of similar size and design, PennDOT could contract for the mass prefabrication of components, speeding delivery and optimizing construction schedules.
The project was innovative in multiple ways, including the decision to bank on the passage of Act 89 and begin environmental studies and design-build preconstruction preparation before the bill became state law. This decision allowed PennDOT a substantial head start before the official project clock began to speed project completion. The contract was completed in partnership with Plenary as part of Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners. Plenary reported the project had achieved “substantial project completion” in 2019 with 548 of the planned 588 bridges replaced in four years.
Improving on a Proven Prototype
Pennsylvania was not the first to complete an ABC project of this scope. In 2009, Missouri awarded a single 30-year contract to KTU Constructors, a joint venture of Kiewit Western Company, Traylor Brothers, Inc., and United Contractors, Inc., to replace 802 bridges throughout the state in five years, and maintain them for 30 years after that, as part of their Safe & Sound Bridge Program.
As KSMU’s Missy Shelton reported to NPR at the time, the single contract model was expected to allow the state to repair the bridges “significantly faster than if the state took on the task itself. No other state has issued a single contract to repair and maintain so many bridges for such a long period of time.”
Missouri completed the initial stages of the Safe & Sound Bridge Program in just three and a half years, improving, rehabilitating, and/or replacing all 802 bridges 18 months ahead of schedule.
What make’s PennDOT’s innovation stand out – the formula that made this project the first of its kind – was the melding of P3 funding with an ABC program, which no other ABC project had attempted. It was this marriage of proven, scalable construction techniques and funding innovation that earned the state’s Department of Transportation Engineering News Record’s MidAtlantic Owner of the Year award in 2016.
Since then, several more states have put similar initiatives in place, including Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Rhode Island. The Federal Highway Administration’s Center for Innovative Finance Support published a breakdown of the best practices and lessons learned from Missouri, Pennsylvania, and seven other states’ ABC projects, as part of their reporting on Alternative Project Delivery.
The Role of P3 Financing in U.S. Infrastructure
What is a P3, Exactly?
Public-Private Partnerships are defined by the Government Accountability Office as “a contractual arrangement that is formed between public and private-sector partners. These arrangements typically involve a government agency contracting with a private partner to renovate, construct, operate, maintain, and/or manage a facility or system, in whole or in part, that provides a public service.”
The partnership arrangement can allow the governmental agency to maintain ownership of the public facility/system, but the private partner will also invest in development of the properties. This facilitates an income-sharing arrangement among the parties and differs from a standard service contract because the private sector partner often provides a substantial at-risk equity investment, allowing the government partner to access new revenue or gain service capacity without having to compensate the private-sector partner.
There are a variety of P3s, also sometimes called PPPs, that have become prominent. They populate a range between private and public activities/delivery systems that include:
- Public Design/Bid/Build (D/B/B)
- Design/Build (D/B)
- Operate and Maintain (O&M)
- Finance (F)
- Transfer to Public Ownership (T)
- Privatization/Divestiture (P/D)
P3 types can include existing facilities – known as “brownfields” within the funding scheme, and projects creating new capacity – called “greenfield” projects. These should not be confused with the same terminologies used within the environmental consulting industry which refer to sites which require hazardous contaminant removal.
Prior to the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, P3s were gaining considerable steam, allowing states to upgrade and repair subpar infrastructure with limited federal funds. At present, industry watchers and P3 proponents are standing by, awaiting the impact of federal monies on these partnerships.
Will Federal Infrastructure Funds Help America’s Bridges Make The Grade?
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law celebrated its second birthday in November of 2023, and thus far has funded $400 billion across 40,000 projects in 4,500 communities.
More than $300 billion of those funds have been earmarked or are already being invested in the nations roads and bridges in “the largest investment since President Eisenhower’s investment in the interstate highway system.” This includes more than 7,800 bridge infrastructure projects.
“When a bridge closes, it costs Americans time and money, disrupts supply chains across the region, and sometimes cuts off entire communities from vital resources,” said Secretary Buttigieg in a Department of Transportation announcement opening bridge funding applications.
Similarly, the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) sets aside $500 billion in spending and tax incentives in a goal to increase renewable energy projects, cut healthcare costs, and increase tax revenue. The IRA, along with the CHIPS and Science Act (2022) and the BIL (2021) are expected to introduce $2 trillion in new funds to the nation’s economy.
High-profile projects throughout the country are beginning to break ground, including the Brent Spence Bridge project. The bridge, connecting Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky, upgrades the existing bridge and constructs a new one to expand traffic on I-71 and I-75, that the White House calls “a critical trade route from Canada to Florida.”
Bringing the funding conversation full circle, $14.8 billion in federal infrastructure funds have been awarded to Pennsylvania thus far, including for the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway ($69 million), one of the nation’s longest running road and bridge projects, spanning more than 50 years, which is now on track for completion in 2027.
And on July 17, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Secretary Buttigieg announced an unprecedented $5 billion in Large Bridge Project awards through the Federal Highway Administration’s competitive Bridge Investment Program, as part of the federal Investing in America Initiative led by the Biden-Harris administration.
13 large bridge projects will be funded in this historic round of infrastructure investment:
$1.4 billion to the Oregon Department of Transportation for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, connecting Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington
$993 million to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for the Sagamore Bridge Replacement Project in Cape Cod
$550 million to the Alabama Department of Transportation for the I-10 Mobile River Bridge Replacement & Byway Multimodal Project in Alabama
$500 million to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the I-83 South Bridge Replacement Project in Harrisburg
$394 million to the Tennessee Department of Transportation for the America’s River Crossing Project in Memphis, Tennessee and West Memphis, Arkansas
$251 million to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation for the I-95 15: Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s Economy Project in Providence
$242 million to the North Carolina Department of Transportation for the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge Replacement Project in Wilmington
$175 million to the South Carolina Department of Transportation for the I-95 over Lake Marion Bridge Replacement Project in Santee
$124 million to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation for the Roosevelt Memorial Bridge Replacement Project in Bryan and Marshall Counties
$101 million to Miami-Dade County for the Venetian Causeway Bridge Replacement Project in Miami
$88 million to the West Virginia Department of Transportation for the Market Street Bridge Replacement Project in East Steubenville, West Virginia and Steubenville, Ohio
$72 million to the New Mexico Department of Transportation for the Nogal Canyon Bridge Replacement Project in Socorro County
$63 million to the Kansas Department of Transportation for the 18th Street Bridge Replacement Project in Kansas City, Kansas
Back in Baltimore, the federal government provided $60 million in initial emergency funds to remove, repair, and mitigate the damage caused by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and reopen the port. Some estimates put the final price tag to rebuild the bridge more than $1.5 billion. It remains to be seen if federal infrastructure funds will play a role in its construction.
Each collapse listed above was caused by a ship striking the bridge or its supports. More than 125 additional bridge collapses happen annually throughout the U.S. that are not caused by collisions.
RFP (Request for Proposal) deadline for design-build on the Francis Scott Key Bridge closed June 24. The Maryland Transportation Authority (MTA) is mandating a two-phase process that requires the designer and builder to work in tandem, as well as with MDOT (The Maryland Department of Transportation) to promote efficient project completion.
