How safe are Arizona bridges? Here's what drivers need to know

Abigail Beck, Arizona Republic
·4 min read

Concerns about bridge infrastructure safety resurfaced Tuesday after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge was hit by a cargo ship early Tuesday morning. The structure collapsed into the Patapsco River, bringing at least eight people with it.

The collapse happened within seconds. Six construction workers are presumed dead after two were rescued from the water. The bodies of two other workers were recovered Wednesday, USA Today reported. The Francis Scott Key Bridge had earned a rating of “fair” from the National Bridge Inventory before the collapse.

About 1 in 3 U.S. bridges either need repairs or need to be replaced, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association’s latest analysis on bridge conditions.

Here is a rundown of how Arizona's bridges score on their conditions.

How safe are Arizona's bridges?

Compared with the amount of structurally deficient bridges nationwide, Arizona bridges rank among the safest in the U.S.

The Arizona Department of Transportation credits the state's low humidity for helping preserve the bridges before significant repairs become necessary.

Bridge collapses and failures in AZ: Here's what happened

All 8,544 of Arizona’s bridges were analyzed in 2023 by the National Bridge Inventory, which maintains a national database of the United States’ bridges via the Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. Of those bridges:

  • 5,430 bridges received a "good" rating.

  • 3,019 bridges received a "fair" rating.

  • 95 bridges received a “poor" rating.

In 2019, 137 Arizona bridges were classified as poor by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, marking an improvement since then.

A report by the Federal Highway Administration defines these three primary condition ratings on a scale of one to nine, one being the lowest rating and nine being the highest:

  • A rating of “good” is given to bridges that have minor problems or none at all. This rating is signified by a score of seven.

  • A rating of “fair” is given to bridges that have all structural elements intact, however, there may be some cracking or noticeable wear occurring on other areas of the bridge. This rating is signified by a score of five.

  • A rating of “poor” is given to bridges with wear that could be considered dangerous. The main structural elements of bridges with this rating have often begun to deteriorate significantly, and they are signified with a score of four.

Data from the National Bridge Inventory revealed that there are a total of 621,581 bridges in the United States. Of these, 42,404 have been given a rating of “poor.” Therefore, 6.82% of bridges in the U.S. are in poor condition, but in Arizona, only 1.1% of bridges are given this rating.

The number of Arizona bridges labeled as poor by the National Bridge Inventory can be broken down by county:

  • Apache: 9

  • Cochise: 12

  • Coconino: 5

  • Gila: 7

  • Graham: 7

  • Greenlee: 4

  • La Paz: 11

  • Maricopa: 4

  • Mohave: 4

  • Navajo: 4

  • Pima: 10

  • Pinal: 7

  • Santa Cruz: 2

  • Yavapai: 4

  • Yuma: 5

There are three bridges in Arizona that are at least 123 years old. One is located in Bisbee, and the other two are in Pinal and Graham counties.

Each of these structures is traveled by an average of less than 500 cars per day, according to National Bridge Inventory data. The Bisbee structure sees about 300 cars daily.

There are 23 additional bridges in Arizona that are also 123 years old, but all of these are rated with “fair” conditions. These are the oldest bridges in the state and were established 12 years before Arizona gained statehood on February 14, 1912.

The newest bridge in the state with a poor rating is 26 years old and located in Apache County.

There are two bridges in the state, one in Tucson and one in Phoenix, that see significantly more traffic than the other structures categorized as poor. The 22nd Street Bridge in Tucson sees a daily average of 38,365 cars, NBI data said.

In Phoenix, the bridge on Shea Boulevard over Indian Bend Wash receives about 34,003 cars daily.

In Arizona, the most traveled bridges see well over 200,000 vehicles per day and are all labeled to be in either “fair” or “good” condition. The top two rated as “poor” do not make it to the top 500 most traversed bridges in the state, according to National Bridge Inventory's average daily traffic statistics.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Are Arizona bridges safe? Baltimore collapse raises questions