Ohio's Bridges
Overview
Ohio County Engineers are responsible for the maintenance of nearly 26,000 bridges statewide. At current funding levels, ODOT predicts the number of deficient bridges in the state will grow to 25 percent by 2010 and up to 29 percent beyond 2020. Ohio has the second-largest number of bridges in the nation, of which county engineers are responsible for more than half.
Of the state’s road and bridge inventory, ODOT is charged with the construction and maintenance of less than 32 percent (13,993) of bridges. The remaining jurisdiction of Ohio’s transportation infrastructure belongs to:
- Cities & Villages: responsible for the maintenance of all roads and bridges within incorporated limits with the exception of bridges over waterways. Ohio’s 242 cities oversee 24,500 miles of roads and 2,083 bridges.
- Counties: county engineers are
responsible for maintaining and upgrading
24,536 miles of county highways and 25,984
bridges (64 percent of all state bridges),
including those over waterways within city
corporations.
- Townships: Ohio’s 1,317 townships are
responsible for 186 bridges.
Of Ohio’s county-maintained bridges: (some figures are duplicated)
- 10,259 are 50 years or older and reaching the end of their design life;
-
2,570 have posted weight limits;
- 6,005 are structurally deficient and functionally obsolete;
- 2,349 qualify for replacement and
-
2,916 qualify for rehabilitation.
Funding
Funding for Ohio’s roads, bridges and culverts is
collected through a combination of state and federal
gas taxes, bonds, license plate fees, permit fees and,
to a small degree, sales taxes and levies passed by
voters at the local level.
While federal funding has provided barely adequate
resources for ODOT to improve and maintain Ohio’s
heavier-used roads and bridges, the trickle-down
effect has local governments struggling to meet their
basic infrastructure funding needs.